Lit_Match

Reefer Madness Continues
10-20-08|Boston Magazine|OpEd

November 4 can not come soon enough for us. Not only will it put an end to the back and forth between Barack Obama and John McCain, but it will stop the circular argument Massachusetts district attorneys make against decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana, even though several of them admit to trying pot in their younger days.

As a student at Stonehill College, Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley found himself in a room with guys passing around a bong.

So let’s get this straight. Because Conley was lucky enough not to get caught with that bong in his hand, he didn’t have that on his record. This allowed him to become the DA, and now he wants to prosecute kids who are experimenting the way he did in his youth?

The district attorneys say decriminalizing small amounts of pot is as dangerous as repealing the state income tax, but we’ve yet to hear a truly compelling reason why. Surely Martha Coakley has some good evidence.

Finally, some facts! Statistics! Hard evidence that civil fines for possessing small amounts of weed will unravel the very fabric of our society!

. . .Or not.

It’s interesting—there were two accidents in which police officers were struck or nearly struck by drivers operating under the influence of alcohol this weekend. And yet nobody wants to make it illegal to carry a six-pack. (We hope.)

Most of the arguments we’ve heard for keeping the criminal penalties for small amounts of pot boil down to “because we said so” or “drugs are bad.” This isn’t enough to convince us that we’ll be hit by a droopy-eyed driver come Nov. 5 if the measure passes. But good attempt at fear-mongering, DAs.

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