Massachusetts: MARIJUANA ON THE MOVE?

Massachusetts was one of the few bright spots for drug reform in the
November 5 elections. For the second time in a row, voters in selected
cities and towns across the state voted overwhelmingly in non-binding
local referenda to tell their legislators to support medical marijuana
and marijuana decriminalization. With drug reformers casting around
looking for a state where residents will actually vote for marijuana
law reform, Massachusetts is starting to look very
interesting.

"What happened in Massachusetts is a very good omen," said Bruce
Mirken, director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project, a
deep-pocketed group eager to win a victory after the tough loss in
Nevada. "We are thinking about getting involved in Proposition S in
San Francisco, but we'll also look at Massachusetts," he told DRCNet.

The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) is
also interested, although it also mentioned other locales first.
"We're looking at Wisconsin, Vermont, and maybe Massachusetts," said
NORML's Allen St. Pierre. "We're looking for places with demonstrated
public support," he told DRCNet.

That would presumably include the Bay State, where voters in 19 state
representative districts encompassing 46 municipalities voted to tell
their representatives to decriminalize by margins of 60% or more, with
a high of 71% in Brookline and a low of 55% in Methuen. They join
residents of another 18 districts who voted the same way in 2000.

The electoral clean sweep was the result of hard work by a pair of
homegrown groups, the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Alliance
(http://www.masscann.org) and the Drug Policy Forum of Massachusetts.
While both groups expressed interest in outside help, neither is
waiting for the big boys to show up.

"Now we go to the statehouse," said Scott Mortimer, an activist with
the Forum. "We're very excited. People in the political establishment
and the mass media are very surprised at the support we have. We will
re-file the decrim and medical marijuana bills we had in the 2000-2001
session," he told DRCNet. "Massachusetts is a progressive state, and
we already had support at the statehouse -- we had a dozen or so
sponsors last time -- and in the wake of the call from voters, we
should have even more this time."

"Now constituents and activists will have to pressure legislators to
do what the voters told them to," said MassCann's Bill Downing. "We've
already heard some legislators say they won't support
decriminalization despite what their voters said. That means we have
to turn up the heat," he told DRCNet. "We will use education and
public relations, but voters need to keep the pressure on, too."

The campaign is definitely moving to a new phase, said Downing. "As we
seek cosponsors for decrim and medical marijuana bills, our mission
now is to focus on the legislature, especially those districts where
the voters have already commanded their representatives to vote for
these," he said.

"Last session, the bills were bottled up in committee," said Mortimer.
"We'll be doing a lobbying campaign as we try to increase the number
of sponsors this year -- and that starts now," he said. "We're looking
at an early December deadline to get bills in, so we'll be down at the
statehouse getting the word out in the next two weeks, then preparing
for hearings in the spring."

Although Massachusetts law allows for ballot initiatives, local
activists are not ready to go that route just yet. "Initiatives are an
option," said Mortimer, "but we're trying to work with legislators
now."

MassCann's Downing sounded a similar note. "MassCann still believes we
live in a representative democracy and constituents will be able to
successfully petition their legislators to do the right thing," he
said. "If that doesn't work, an initiative may be next."

"We would look forward to exploring that alternative with some of the
national advocacy groups," said Mortimer. "We worked with the
Marijuana Policy Project in a legislative campaign two years ago, and
we would look forward to working with them again, or with the Drug
Policy Alliance or one or more of the other groups," he said.
"Initiatives cost money, though. It comes down to funding."

But there is still a legislative battle to be fought first, and the
Massachusetts activists see a real chance of success. "We're
optimistic the legislature will work with us this year, given the
election results," said Mortimer. "But the desperate nature of our
state budget crisis also works for us. Gov. Romney has said he will
not increase taxes, and we have studies showing that decriminalization
will be a big savings of state resources." Still, said Mortimer, some
legislators are recalcitrant. "Many of them have no real interest and
limited knowledge about the issue," he said. "All they know is the
drug war mythology. We have to fill them in on the wave of drug reform
sweeping the Western world."