LIVING ON AN island brings with it challenges many on the mainland don’t grasp, from being locked in during storms to being overrun by tourists during the summer season. But those on Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard are now facing a new question that their fellow Bay Staters won’t encounter: What about pot? Massachusetts voters, like […]
Marijuana
Posted inUncategorized
Pot board taps chair as interim director
THE MAIN ORDER of business Tuesday in the Cannabis Control Commission’s first-ever public hearing was to install an interim executive director and the board didn’t look far – Chairman Steven Hoffman was unanimously approved to take the helm until the panel hires a permanent director. “We need to get started today and there’s things we […]
Posted inUncategorized
Cannabis Commission may be scrambling for funds
THE STATE COMMISSION CHARGED with implementing the new legal marijuana law is starting its work with no money in its coffers and uncertainty about whether it will have sufficient funds to set up the permitting process needed to oversee a billion-dollar industry from scratch. State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg, whose office was given autonomy over the […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Marijuana law must address race impact of War on Drugs
IN NOVEMBER, MASSACHUSETTS voters chose to move our state’s drug policy into the 21st century by rejecting the failed War on Drugs and becoming the first state in the Eastern half of the country to legalize cannabis. Now, the Legislature is considering a bill which would reintroduce some of the same regressive principles that voters […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
For marijuana law, now the ‘Grown-Up’s Hour’
MANY OF US have listened to Longfellow’s poem that reminds us that there “Comes a pause in the day’s occupations, that is known as the Children’s Hour.” Now that democracy has worked its magic in Massachusetts with the legalization of recreational use of marijuana, I suggest it is time for the Grown-Up’s Hour when it […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
The shock heard ‘round the world
DONALD TRUMP WAS elected president, upending the expectations set by virtually every poll going into Tuesday’s election. He won despite alienating and attacking everyone from Hispanics to Gold Star families, calling war hero (and fellow Republican) John McCain a loser, and boasting of his celebrity-fueled ability to grab women’s genitals at will. None of it […]
Posted inThe Download
The Codcast: Smoke and mirrors
Both sides of the debate over the ballot question to legalize adult recreational use of marijuana are running television ads in the final weeks of the campaign and it’s safe to say neither will be awarded points for honesty. The Campaign for a Safe and Healthy Massachusetts, the group started with the backing of Gov. […]
Posted inTransportation
AAA says marijuana OUI laws useless
THE RESEARCH ARM of AAA says states that set legal limits for marijuana driving impairment have no scientific basis for the standards and urged a national effort to adopt uniform tests to ensure road safety. “Legal limits for marijuana and driving are arbitrary and unsupported by science, which could result in unsafe motorists going free […]
Posted inDrug Addiction, The Back Story
The gateway debate over marijuana
CHRIS LOWE, A 41-year-old carpenter on Martha’s Vineyard, has smoked pot since his early 20s, both legally and illegally. When he lived in Montana, he had a certificate to grow, sell, and use medical marijuana until the state changed its laws. He says he qualifies for medical marijuana in Massachusetts, but doesn’t bother because the bureaucracy […]
Posted inThe Download
On weed, let’s stick to the facts
Facts are in short supply in the increasingly polarized debate over legalizing marijuana, which is why Jack Sullivan’s piece today in CommonWealth is refreshing. The article suggests the inability of law enforcement officials to test for marijuana impairment is a real problem, but also points to studies indicating a marijuana high isn’t the same as […]