Monday, October 31, 2016

Don't Make Such A Fuss!

The campaign for a safe and healthy MA created an ad for what they believe will happen if question 4, that being the legalization of marijuana, is accepted and goes into effect. In this short video a young girl and her mother are driving and they pass dozens of marijuana dispensaries on every street corner. They arrive to their destination and the young girl wants to eat the “candy” that she sees- that being marijuana edibles.

So many people are so upset about question four and agree with this ad. They believe that legalizing marijuana is dangerous and will lead to thousands of dispensaries in our neighborhoods, they are worried about their children getting their hands on edibles and the dangers of car crashes while under the influence.

These people should not be worrying because legalizing marijuana is not going to lead to the end of the world like they think. If we look at places like Colorado we can see that so much good has come from legalizing it, including the millions in revenue that they are gaining to help improve their community.  If Massachusetts can open up dispensaries, then will be gaining this revue as well to help out our state.

Another reason not to worry is because marijuana sales will be very carefully regulated, unlike cigarettes which can be bought just about anywhere, marijuana will only be available to buy at licensed dispensaries and only to individuals 21 and over, so yes some of the edibles might look like candy but it will be impossible for your children to get their hands on it by just seeing it in a window and wanting it.

Why are you so worried about the dangers of increasing car crashes?  If we look at Colorado then we can see that accidents fell when marijuana was legalized. Another reason not to worry is because there will be laws regarding driving under the influence, just like with alcohol. Yes, people still drive drunk and there is no way to stop that from happening and I’m not saying that nobody will ever drive while under the influence of marijuana, but the effects are so different than that of alcohol. there is no evidence that marijuana has had any effect on the rate of fatal car crashes. The blood tests that medical examiners’ offices use aren’t able to accurately determine whether or not traces of THC were enough to impair a driver’s ability to drive.


So people of Massachusetts, stop making such a fuss because this is not the end of the world. 

3 comments:

  1. Good points. If anything, I think the biggest concern the state of MA should look at is how they are going to allocate the substantial $$$ that will be coming in as a result of taxation. I don't particularly care for pot one way or the other, but I plan to vote YES on question 4 so we can allow an additional stream of revenue into the state.

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  2. "So many people... agree with this ad."
    Isn't advertising wonderful persuasion?

    "marijuana will only be available to buy at licensed dispensaries and only to individuals 21 and over"
    You mean, restricted the same way liquor purchases are, so that we can be confident that under-21 year olds will be no more able to acquire weed than booze?

    "people still drive drunk and there is no way to stop that from happening"
    Yes, there is. Short-term: encourage Uber. Long-term: self-driving cars.

    " The blood tests that medical examiners’ offices use aren’t able to accurately determine whether or not traces of THC were enough to impair a driver’s ability to drive."
    Um, no. "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"

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  3. I voted already and did vote yes on question 4. I don't think that legalizing it for 21 or older comes without its share of hurdles though. I think in general - being able to regulate it in any fashion is an advantage for us and I'd love to see the revenue put to some good use. BUT, just like kids can manage to smoke a pack a day before they turn 18 and get their friends/relatives to purchase alcohol for them before they're 21....the same will happen here. People that aren't of legal age CAN and WILL get their hands on it. I guess it's a matter of time before we see whether this change will be positive or negative, but I think more people than ever see this as a positive change.

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