Sunday, October 9, 2016

Massachusetts and Marijuana


Image result for charlie baker

In November of this year, in addition to deciding one of the most divisive elections in American history, as well as determining control of the United States Senate, nine states have the honor of also deciding whether to legalize marijuana. While allowing or barring Mary Jane from their states borders might not seem as big an issue in comparison to others, numbers show that this is more than just college freshmen wanting a chance to get lit without illegality being something else for them to get paranoid about. In the year 2015 alone, the state of Colorado made $135 million in revenue from taxes and fees on marijuana sales.

Presidential candidates and other political figures have not been shy on their stances on weed. Bernie Sanders called for removing it from the federally illegal list of drugs, and Gary Johnson has been a vocal supporter of it, after running his previous 2012 campaign on the notion that “He’ll legalize it.”

In Massachusetts, one of the nine states voting on the issue in November, a notable and interesting political dynamic has emerged. Three of the state’s most prominent elected officials came together to release a joint statement stating their opposition to the measure. Republican Governor Charlie Baker, Democratic Attorney General Maura Healy, and Mayor of Boston Marty Walsh formed a political power rangers to fight the evil of the devils lettuce. Crossing party lines in what would be, in almost any other state, or any other form of government, a really, REALLY big deal. If Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan could agree with President Barack Obama on even what type of bread is best for toast (it’s dark rye) people would cheer and celebrate their tossing aside of partisan bickering to do what is best for America.

Apparently though, it’s not a big enough deal for the people of Massachusetts, who according to most recent polling data still support letting reefer madness run wild. Whether they final vote two months from now will be different remains to be seen, but such strong support shows that Massachusetts voters are willing to think for themselves and oppose what their leaders think is best. And should ballot question #4 pass in Massachusetts, those who so openly opposed it are going to be in a tough spot come their reelection.

2 comments:

  1. Hi,

    Your post is pretty interesting. One of the things that stands out to me, however, is your main point seems to occur further down in the post. Your point, I believe, is that in Massachusetts, the people are taking a different view on marijuana policy than the leaders here--and occurs in the last paragraph.

    The reason I mention this is it might have been better if the main idea occurred closer to the first paragraph because it may cause confusion for the reader when the main idea occurs at or near the end. With the main idea right at the top, the reader knows right away that what you write in each succeeding paragraph will further develop, explain or illustrate your main point.

    In any case, I enjoyed reading your post!

    Truthis

    ReplyDelete
  2. "type of bread is best for toast (it’s dark rye)"
    Citation, please. I dislike charcoal on my toast, and dark rye is to dark to ensure proper quality control.

    "those who so openly opposed it are going to be in a tough spot come their reelection"
    Highly unlikely. Far to many other issues will arise over the next two years.

    ReplyDelete