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.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteYour 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
"type of bread is best for toast (it’s dark rye)"
ReplyDeleteCitation, 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.