Massachusetts DAs claim that tobacco is safer than marijuana
Dear friends:
Opponents of Massachusetts' marijuana decriminalization ballot initiative just can't stop lying.
Here are some the lies they're flooding the media with, in a cynical attempt to scare voters into defeating the measure on November 4:
- Marijuana is more dangerous than alcohol or tobacco — because tobacco takes a long time to kill you and alcohol has health benefits. (Yes, you read that right.) That's according to Bristol County District Attorney Sam Sutter.
And here are four gems from the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association:
- “By empowering drug dealers with decriminalization of marijuana, we would be empowering them to continue their violent ways: carrying and brandishing weapons; ripping off kids who get in over their heads; engaging in bloody turf wars; and indiscriminately assaulting or murdering when things don't go the way they want.”
- “Marijuana arrests are strongly associated with violent crime — dangerous criminals who make the wrong choice time and time again.” (In reality, research shows unmistakably that marijuana — unlike alcohol — is almost never the cause of aggression or violence.)
- “Very few arrests involving marijuana charges are for simple possession.” (In reality, according to FBI statistics, a full 89% of marijuana arrests are for simple possession.)
- The initiative “will allow drug dealers to operate with impunity and make it easier for them to do business with your children.”
You and I know this is outrageous. Don't sit by and let law enforcement officials get away with this blatant lying and fear-mongering — help the campaign fund an aggressive response.
This is the first time in history that an initiative to decriminalize marijuana will be on any statewide ballot, and the campaign needs our help to fight back hard in the little time that remains. Will you please visit www.SensibleMarijuanaPolicy.org/donate to donate $10 or more today?
As always, thank you for your generous support of MPP and our allies.
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
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Comment posted by Anonymous on Mon, 10/06/2008 - 10:37amTo the good District attorneys, have you never heard that when you make statements, try to make statements that can be believed. Anytime you shirk your duty and support criminals, you are supporting an ongoing criminal enterprise. Anyone with a fifth grade education knows when you make a substance illegal, you turn over the control of that substance to the criminals. In addition by creating a black market, you have created a vast profit margin, that keeps creating more criminals. So with over thirty years of failure of stopping drugs, do we even think that will change? The police have gone "postal" so many times over those years, that we have almost gotten used to them breaking down the wrong doors, killing humans and pets, all to find no drugs. "Heckuva job guys".
If you truly want to control drugs, STOP doing the same thing and expecting different results. We have been proven too many times how wrong we have been. So make our "official" do their job, legalize, control, tax, and distribute to adults. This is the only way to take control of our borders, reduce outrageous spending, stop ruining peoples lives for burning a weed. But one thing that makes no sense, is declaring a "war on drugs" which we cannot win. Does "booze prohibition" wake anyone up? So good luck America, God knows we need it.
J.D. Lape' Monticello, Ar. USA
to reply to the last
Comment posted by Anonymous on Mon, 10/06/2008 - 8:41amto reply to the last comment. no one has ever overdosed on marijuana as it is nearly impossible
common sense
Comment posted by Anonymous on Mon, 10/06/2008 - 10:28amIf marijuana is legalized, it will be federally regulated, marketed, distributed, and recorded."Dealers" will lose their customer base, and consumers still will not be allowed to smoke in bars. How does this not improve the populous safety margin? Our government needs to protect my son (and your kids too) from organized crime, not bad decisions.
how are you protecting children?
Comment posted by Anonymous on Sun, 10/05/2008 - 5:38pmPeople who are always attacking law enforcement are generally outlaws. How is what you are doing making the world a better, safer place for kids? Think about how you will feel about this when you finally do grow up. If you don't die of an overdose that is.