BLODGETT JUST SAYS NO

Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett has heard all of the
arguments for decriminalizing marijuana. He doesn't buy any of them.

"I have yet to be persuaded that it's for the public good," says
Blodgett, who has worked in recent months to intensify the fight on
drugs such as heroin on the North Shore and says marijuana shouldn't
be treated any differently. Blodgett says that for all the arguments
pot activists make to show that marijuana is a relatively harmless
substance, he can dig up just as much evidence to prove just the opposite.

"I think that medical research has finally caught up with some of
these issues," he says. "It has shown that there are negative,
long-term effects to marijuana use. Also, I do believe that marijuana
is a gateway drug. The kids who start smoking marijuana at an early
age will often graduate to other, more harmful forms of drug use."

That may be true, but some marijuana supporters insist that if the
road to hardcore drugs is indeed paved with marijuana, the
relationship between the two is indirect at best.

"It's my personal opinion that the only way it's a gateway drug is
that people are willing to break the law," says Gary Insuik, a Salem
resident and member of the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition
(Mass Cann). "That's the hardest decision. But once you get used to
breaking the law, you'll continue to break the law."