58% support in Massachusetts for legalizing marijuana and regulating it as other agricultural commodities
Georgetown, MA – This evening, attendees at the Second Annual Massachusetts Cannabis Convention hosted by the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition/NORML (MassCann/NORML) at the Crowne Plaza in Natick heard the major results of a live telephone poll conducted in November by DAPA Research Inc. of 600 Massachusetts voters with a margin of error of +/-4%.
The most significant findings:
*Fifty-eight percent (58%) support legalizing marijuana and regulating it in the same manner as other agricultural commodities with sales prohibited to underage persons (69% Democrats, 44% Republicans, 54% Other).
*Sixty-two percent (62%) are more likely to support legalization if the proposed law would regulate the cultivation and sale of marijuana to adults and tax it in the same manner as the state currently regulates alcohol (70% Democrats, 56% Republicans, 60% Other).
*Fifty-four percent (54%) oppose the federal government disregarding state law in states legalizing marijuana, while only 35% support the federal government’s disregarding state law.
“The data strongly suggests that Massachusetts voters are more ready than voters in any other state to end prohibition and establish reasonable regulation of cannabis cultivation and commerce for all purposes,” said Steven S. Epstein, a founder and currently an officer of MassCann/NORML. “The data also establishes that if the legislature does not enact a law allowing medical use of marijuana this session the voters will overwhelmingly, perhaps 80%+, approve the voter initiative for the Humanitarian Medical Use of Marijuana at the ballot box in November.”
“Legalization is essential to ending crime created by the prohibition of cannabis,” said Cara Crabb-Burnham, a member of MassCann/NORML’s Board of Directors. “It is important to recognize legal vendors will card customers and keep it out of the hands of children.”
* * *
For more information contact:
Michael Crawford, 978-502-4080
Attorney Steven Epstein, 978-352-3300
I think that part of what we could be fighting for is a reduction in the severity of the punishment across this nation if someone gets caught with a small amount of cannabis (perhaps less than 1 lb). In my many discussions with people who are both for and against legalization, even those against it think the penalties are ridiculously severe and unfair.
So, until it becomes legal, can we at least get a compromise by reducing the penalties for possession and even for selling small amounts? I think that anyone with even an average amount of common sense and compassion would agree that this should be done.
Re Editor’s Note to comment 49:
While there are few examples of pro-reform initiatives that pick up any great support, more importantly, there are even fewer examples of legalization efforts.
As we’ve seen post Prop 19 in California, even a loss moves the debate forward. The average person tends not to think about this issue, and they often take what is thought of as popular opinion as their own. However, when they are asked to vote on the issue, it gives them the chance to actually think about the issue. So if our issue is truly just, why wouldn’t we want people to be thinking about it? Consider: we now have a president who says legalization is a subject worthy of debate. Can you imagine him saying that before Prop 19?
[Editor’s note: OK…sure….binding legalization ballots in all of the two dozen or so states that allow for them. However, one major problem:
$$$$$
The grassroots movement to reform cannabis has not put up the needed funding for a ballot initiative–all of the major funding comes from a group of three billionaires (and NORML receives no funding from any of them)–so if and when there are cannabis law reform initiatives they happen only because one or more of these folks chips in millions of dollars, and they don’t appear to have any appetite to run more than one or two narrowly worded pro-reform initiatives at any one time (and don’t generally fund them if they poll under 55%).
The only real exception to this is last year’s Prop. 19 in CA, which was largely funded by Oaksterdam University and BullDog owner Richard Lee, who, acknowledged at the beginning of the campaign that the public support level was not likely high enough to prevail, but if Prop 19 lost by only a few percentage points, then it was worthwhile to undertake and to underwrite a statewide/national discussion to end Cannabis Prohibition.
To date, the amalgam of these three billionaire donors have not wanted to run symbolic initiatives, instead preferring to win narrowly crafted reform initiatives that actually change laws (though, not as far as many grassroots activists prefer).]
re; 58% support in Massachusetts for legalizing marijuana and
regulating it as other agricultural commodities
re; [Editor’s note: Unfortunately in CA in 2010, the support for legalization in polling never touched 58%…and not for six consecutive months…
bad question = bad results,
better question = better results,
best question = best results.
by now, you should have optimized the language, so as to get optimal results.
we can never put in enough stupid, pointless, rediculous over-regulations make the other side vote for it, so stop trying to do that, and try making OUR side happy for a change, please.
prop 19 was INTENTIONALLY DEFEATED by PRO-POT voters,
BECAUSE it tried to ‘buy’ the votes of the other side, by putting in way too much ‘feel good’ over-regulations and prohibitions. regulations and prohibitions that are NOT REQUIRED for alcohol or tobacco or prescription drugs or K2/SPICE, SO OBVIOUSLY, THERE IS NO NEED FOR THEM WITH POT, either.
also note; “and regulating it as other agricultural commodities”;
means agricultural commodities like corn or wheat or TOMATOES !!
YES, THE ‘MAKE IT AS LEGAL AS TOMATOES’ MODEL OF MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION GETS THE BEST POLL RESULTS !!
WAY BETTER THAN THE ‘ALCOHOL MODEL’ EVER DID.
I HAVE BEEN SAYING THIS FOR YEARS…
marijuana is A MEDICALLY BENEFICIAL, natural, NON-NARCOTIC, non-toxic plant substance, LIKE BLUEBERRIES, ORANGE JUICE, GARLIC, or olive oil.
-and should be regulated as such.
[Editor’s note: Cannabis may be all of those things but it is also a drug that has mild psychotropic effects that cause impairment, and therefore to become legalized the drug is logically going the same route of alcohol and tobacco products where there will be age and use restrictions.
Because cannabis is certainly a drug it is not going to be legally available in America like food products such as orange juice, blueberries or garlic.]
Polls Molls .
California was ahead in the polls and look what happen .
[Editor’s note: Actually, the polls before the election indicated only for a brief 3-4 week period (late August-mid September) where legalization polled in the majority once the campaign was launched. 3 weeks out from the election the polling came down to largely reflect the final vote — 53%-47%.
Whether to gauge general public support or to help form reform strategies, polling and focus groups are very important tools for corporations, organizations, governments and other institutions.]
@53 Editors Note: Marijuana is certainly a drug???
I’m more than a little surprised that any NORML editors would say such a thing!
[Editor’s note: Why would the truth about cannabis surprise you at NORML? Where else are consumers going to get the ‘truth’ (meaning: accurate and verifiable information) about cannabis? Are you going to seriously contend here that cannabis is not a drug? That it does not cause impairment? That people don’t abuse it?
What is worse, a disingenuous Prohibitionist or a disingenuous cannabis law reform advocate?
One thing is for sure, cannabis will never become legal if its consumers and legal advocates are going to lie about it or try to purposely mislead the public about the effects of cannabis, mild as they are compared to pharmaceutical, alcohol and tobacco products.
Any regular reader of NORML’s blogs knows that delusional or pie-in-the-sky advocacy is not only discouraged, it will be thwarted where possible.
Publicly claiming that cannabis is not a drug is delusional and not at all helpful in ending Cannabis Prohibition.]
It will be a cold day in hell until my state of Oklahoma even considered decriminalizing marijuana. However, it is good to see other states coming along. Good luck to Massachusetts in your pursuit of a novel idea: FREEDOM!
If Massachusetts legalizes, the points will span 3 states through New Jersey and Delaware to D.C. That’s basically the easter seaboard’s megalopolis, from D.C. to Boston.
There’ll be no point in further avoiding to change the law at the federal level in favor of states’ rights or some other form of outright legalization at the federal level. There is talk (Krugman) of a depression, which is not the time to throw good money after bad and not go for the money grab. The nation, the world economy, needs cannabis revenues and taxes right now, from families to remain or become homeowners, not defaulters, to governments and their bondholders, to big banks who can’t safely move the volume of money they need as long as cannabis is illegal. They can only launder so much money under the illegal status of cannabis.
It is not a situation of if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. Cannabis prohibition is a lost cause. If you can’t eradicate it out of every podunk town in America you just ain’t gettin’ rid of it. Things ain’t a changin’ your way because cannabis prohibition is built on lies and deceit, and manipulation of science funding and cooperation, and stonewalling of pleas and appeals stalled for years at a time. How long did they take to answer that last call for a change? 9 years?
Stop the Feds from keeping on pissing away money out of the public coffers to enforce cannabis prohibition and force everyone to go without the cannabis revenues and jobs and livelihoods it brings with it in the above ground economy. What a better time to put illegals trafficking outright or supplementing their below the standard of living paychecks with either a legal job or a return ticket back home for financial reasons to look or wait for work back home.
I’m looking forward to hearing about the choice Latin American and Mexican sativas returning: Acapulco Gold, Panama Red, Colombian Gold and Colombian Red, fine Jamaican Red, and more. A nice color assortment, as many of the colors of the rainbow can be bred, would be fantastic as a varieties are developed for different ailments and different moods.
How many tips are there on a cannabis leaf?
re; 58% support in Massachusetts for legalizing marijuana and
regulating it as other agricultural commodities
re; [Editor’s note: Unfortunately in CA in 2010, the support for legalization in polling never touched 58%…and not for six consecutive months…
bad question = bad results,
better question = better results,
best question = best results.
by now, you should have optimized the language, so as to get optimal results.
we can never put in enough stupid, pointless, rediculous over-regulations make the other side vote for it, so stop trying to do that, and try making OUR side happy for a change, please.
prop 19 was INTENTIONALLY DEFEATED by PRO-POT voters,
BECAUSE it tried to ‘buy’ the votes of the other side, by putting in way too much ‘feel good’ over-regulations and prohibitions. regulations and prohibitions that are NOT REQUIRED for alcohol or tobacco or prescription drugs or K2/SPICE, SO OBVIOUSLY, THERE IS NO NEED FOR THEM WITH POT, either.
also note; “and regulating it as other agricultural commodities”;
means agricultural commodities like corn or wheat or TOMATOES !!
YES, THE ‘MAKE IT AS LEGAL AS TOMATOES’ MODEL OF MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION GETS THE BEST POLL RESULTS !!
WAY BETTER THAN THE ‘ALCOHOL MODEL’ EVER DID.
I HAVE BEEN SAYING THIS FOR YEARS…
marijuana is A MEDICALLY BENEFICIAL, natural, NON-NARCOTIC, non-toxic plant substance, LIKE BLUEBERRIES, ORANGE JUICE, GARLIC, or olive oil.
-and should be regulated as such.
[Editor’s note: Cannabis may be all of those things but it is also a drug that has mild psychotropic effects that cause impairment, and therefore to become legalized the drug is logically going the same route of alcohol and tobacco products where there will be age and use restrictions.
Because cannabis is certainly a drug it is not going to be legally available in America like food products such as orange juice, blueberries or garlic.]
my response;
1. if “make pot as legal as tomatoes” gets the most votes, then that’s exactly what we should be pushing for.
let us vote for what we really want, and you will GET MORE VOTES.
you will not ‘get out the vote’ with something the pro-pot voters are not enthusiastic about, or do not like, and we will vote AGAINST stinkers like prop 19.
enough ‘medical use only’ petitions.
enough with the ‘ONLY one ounce’ bullshit.
enough with the rediculous over-regulations.
legal means FULLY LEGAL, that’s what we want to vote for.
that’s what we have been waiting YEARS or DECADES for the chance to vote for.
that’s what will ‘get out the vote’.
quit trying to placate the prohibitionists.
you will never get their votes.
local regulations can be added later, if they are really needed. any store that does not want to sell it, for example, will not be required to do so, so they would not have to worry about it.
2. before the drug war, coca-cola had enough cocaine in it to give you a buzz, and it was sold as a food product.
today, energy drinks are sold as food products, and they are loaded with legal drugs; stimulants, which certainly cause mild psychotropic effects and mild impairment.
cough medicine, cans of whipped cream, coffee, and nutmeg, are sold as food product, and can cause mild psychotropic effects.
numerous huff-able cleaners, glues, and solvents, that can get you high and can also CAUSE DEATH, are still sold as legal products; “as legal as tomatoes”.
SALVIA has super-potetent psychotropic effects, and is legal, even for minors in many places.
there are hundreds of plants that will give some type of buzz, and dozens that will kill you, including poisonous mushrooms, and the ‘castor bean weed’ that the poison ‘ricin’ is made from, and they are not illegal.
EVEN RAW POTATOES ARE TOXIC, AND CAN KILL YOU, AND ARE SOLD AS FOOD PRODUCT, AND ARE SOLD WITH NO RESTRICTIONS. “as legal as tomatoes”.
there are and dozens of deadly poisonous chemicals in the grocery store, and way more at the auto parts store and hardware store, as well. all “as legal as tomatoes”.
so, if even deadly poisons are “as legal as tomatoes”, why should pot be regulated more severely than poison ??
don’t you know, this ‘marijuana prohibition’ is really a conspiracy against the industrial and medical uses for this plant; it treats many ailments, and it gives you CLEAN, GREEN, RENEWABLE, ten-dollar-a-barrel home-grown OIL. no arabs, no oil spills killing our wildlife, and no oil wars.
if pot was as industrially useless as tobacco, it would have never been made illegal, even if it killed you, as i have just illustrated with the poisonous mushrooms and ‘castor bean weed’ example.
so; marijuana is not illegal because it is bad,
marijuana is illegal because it is VERY VERY GOOD !!
unless you are very old, your whole life expirience has been ‘life during wartime’, and ‘drug war’ propaganda. (drugs are bad)
you have never expirienced the freedom of being able to buy pure opium or cocaine for pennies a dose, in any pharmacy, with no prescription, and having it be no big deal.
or going to a restaurant and getting a ‘cocaine-cola’, and having it be no big deal.
or buying your marijuana from the sears catalog, and smoking it pretty much anywhere, anytime, you want to.
i guarantee you, as soon as the drug war is over, coca-cola, or some other soda, will have cocaine in it, cough medicine and sleeping pills and toothache drops will have opium again, and patients will treat their own pain, with potent over-the-counter tonics, just like we used to, for over 100 years.
will there be some addicts ??
yes, there will always be some, in any system.
it is human nature.
[Editor’s note: Indeed, if the mega funders want to fund a ‘treat cannabis like tomatoes’ (or in CA’s parlance, ‘Treat Cannabis Like Wine’ initiative), the MassCANN/NORML chapter has provided them a snapshot survey indicating that a regulated model is more popular than an unregulated one.
If past is prologue the mega funders will endow the more conservatively written initiative that polls higher.
Cannabis is going to be legal sooner than later, but the belief that a mildly psychotropic herbal drug like cannabis is not going to have age and use restrictions (similar to a far more dangerous and addictive drug like alcohol) is not tethered to legal, political or financial reality.]
16 Reese: I did not see where anyone answered your question so I will. Try Benedryl. I take three every night that I don’t have any weed and sleep like a baby.
I think this provides the perfect opportunity to Ask Governor Mitt Romney how he stands on the issue of ending Prohibition as it regards to States Rights and Less Government.
@55 Editors note: Honestly, I do expect the truth from NORML. I truly believed that marijuana was not considered to be a drug and that it is an herb; a plant. Of course I know consuming it has a drug-like effect but I’ve read elsewhere (in various blogs) that it is not a drug.
Well, if it is indeed a drug, it is an incredibly safe and beneficial one!
[Editor’s note: Well, if it is indeed a drug, it is an incredibly safe and beneficial one! Indeed, as the DEA’s law judge Francis Young ruled in NORML vs. DEA ‘Marijuana is the safest therapeutic substance known to man’…’safer than most foods we eat’…’no known human overdoses’…’a remarkable record of safety’….etc…]
To #55 and #64, it would be helpful in a legal sense, to say it this way: Cannabis is the plant part. THC is the drug part. Marijuana is the smoked part. This can be done with a simple definition.
The current definition of marijuana is what DEA law Judge Francis Young had in mind when he made his statement. In that definition, marijuana is defined as all (but not some) parts of cannabis. Its placement in Schedule 1 causes him and many others to regard it as a drug. THC is a drug, and it is in Schedule 3.
That definition is clearly the definition of the only ‘other substance’ in Schedule 1. Why allow Schedule 1 to be corrupted by an ‘other substance’? Why corrupt any other Schedule by moving that ‘other substance’ to another schedule? Why not make a simple definition which resolves the confusion?
This simple definition actually shows respect for our Constitution:
16. The term ‘marijuana’ means all parts
of the smoke produced by the combustion
of the plant Cannabis sativa L.
For more information, google Talking Points for the Peloton.
Has there been any thought to forming a cannabis pledge? Though things are going well on the voter initiatives, there is clearly room for more influence with politicians. If there are over 50% of people in a state favoring marijuana legalization, then they should be able to exert their influence on politicians.
How about creating a pledge that politicians would sign where they swear to vote in favor of any and all legislation to legalize marijuana? You can accomplish two things with this pledge. One, you get people on record about the issue one way or another. Two, you can inform the NORML crowd (and others) of which politicians have refused to sign the pledge. In fact, if you were able to get this pledge going, I bet many voters would agree to only vote for a candidate if they have signed the pledge. And if no one running has signed the pledge, the voter would abstain. In a tight race, this could be the deciding factor. I see this as a much quicker route to legalization than any other, particularly in states like California, Oregon, Washington and Massachusetts.
I see photos of our troops in Afghanistan and I see cannabis in the background and foreground of these photos. Why is it a country under our control where we are fighting because they have our enemies amongst them have the legal right to grow cannabis,while we the honest civilians footing the bill for the war are considered criminals if we do? By the same government that says they are fighting our enemies in Afghanistan? More heroin comes out of Afghanistan now than before the war. Why?
As much as I want to see it legalized, and not just by individual states, I don’t see it happening for another couple of generations. Hopefully by then, scientific minds will prevail over the current boogyman in the closet.
I for one am sick of the Editor always saying how they need the BIG MONEY to back them.
Guess what, the truth doesn’t need big money behind it.
As for calling this plant a drug, it is completely unprocessed. It just grows like that.
—-This issue really bothers me, it is not a drug just because you say people abuse it.
—-PEOPLE WILL ABUSE ANYTHING, Dipsh#t.
—-I am pretty sure if you hold your breath in for too long you get “mild psychotropic effects”.
+ Cocaine is processed and concentrated
+ Booze is processed and concentrated
+ The nicotine in tobacco is
+ Coffee is
+ Opiates are
+ WEED IS A DAMN PLANT, IT GROWS LIKE
THAT
As to the age limit thing. Look at the epidemic of ADHD in our classrooms. Our kids need a remedy, they are living in this bullshit era of lies and fear too.
Too long have our third eyes been crippled.
Each and every one of us needs to do our part by smoking this plant as an exercise in civil disobedience.
As for impairment. I THINK NOT. This plant will not impair you unless you sit there and smoke a SNOOP SIZED BLUNT.
[Editor’s note: How has the ‘truth’ worked so far in Congress to end Cannabis Prohibition? It is an unfortunate reality in Washington DC and the state capitals: no pay, no play.
When cannabis consumers and producers care enough about freedom and/or Cannabis Prohibition does not work for them anymore, maybe they’ll care enough to put some serious skin in the game like NRA, AARP, AIPAC, Chamber of Commerce and other membership-based organizations do to get their way.
Historically cannabis consumers donate very little money to reform groups like NORML, DPA, MPP, ASA, etc…and every single reform initiative since 1996 has been financed by three billionaires, save for last year’s Prop. 19.]
I was involved in a car accident about 15 years ago, spent around a month and a half in a coma, woke up, underwent over a year of rehabilitative therapy, and smoke all day long every day. Thanks to the wonderful gift from the universe, my muscle spasms are controlled and improves the muscle tone in my feet and calfs allowing me easier and less stress movement. I don’t smoke to get stupid, I smoke to live!
To defeat the huge prohibition machine I feel you must have the majority of the population on side. This is happening slowly in the USA with the recent Gallup poll results showing 50% in favour of cannabis legalization. Australia and many other countries has no where near that support. Why? The incredibly right leaning media machine and a population willing to believe anything they are told. Education is the key to this lock. This takes time and all of us in possession of the facts spreading the truth around liberally and facing some pretty hostile arguments in the process. Rational drug policy is some way off yet. I feel the USA needs to dismantle prohibition first since it started here. The rest of the world should follow, as without the US there really could be no drug war. Makes you wish Anslinger had never been born. What a legacy of injustice and moral corruption he left behind. Next time you think “I am just one person, what could I possibly do?” remember so was this bastard.