Posted on 11/07/2008 3:40:43 PM PST by jessduntno
A misguided joint initiative November 7, 2008
THE QUESTION 2 initiative to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana should be Exhibit 1 in the case against using ballot questions to make public policy.
What seemed so simple to 65 percent of the state's voters on Tuesday - replacing the criminal penalties for possession of 1 ounce or less of marijuana with a civil penalty of $100 - is already fogging the legal landscape.
Supporters of Question 2 sold the public on the idea that the penalty for pot possession should be on a par with traffic violations. But traffic violators, at least, are required to show their driver's licenses to police officers. Law enforcement officials are unsure about what, if any, identification can be demanded from violators of the new pot law. Currently, Massachusetts residents are not required to carry identification unless engaged in specific acts, such as driving. Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley predicts that police will be handing out quite a few citations "to Mickey Mouse" unless the Legislature amends the new law.
(So, I guess Mickey can go to the polls stoned after ACORN registers him to vote).
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Pretty ironic, my buddy says, that going to a dog race is now illegal but smoking pot is OK.
Driving under the influence is NOT suddenly OK just because they lowered the penalty for possession. Drinking alchohol is not a crime, driving drunk is. What’s the difference?
Personally, I consider pot use akin to riding a motorcycle without a helmet: incredibly stupid and self-destructive, but also silly to expect the government to protect people from their own bad decisions.
I’m a MA resident and I voted for the ballot question to decriminalize it. It’s a waste of taxpayer money to prosecute potheads for cooking their own brains.
What is perhaps the most unbelievable result however, was the question up to abolish the state income tax. Massachusetts voters voted 70% to 30% to keep paying this tax! Massachusetts wastes more money than any other state (think Obama’s illegal aunt) yet they are so brainwashed they volunteer to pay more taxes every time this question comes up!
Passage should make all the Kennedy kids happy campers.
Do you really think people are going to smoke pot any different than they already did? This state was wasting millions prosecuting people for small amounts of grass, then giving them a slap on the wrist and a criminal history for life. No one made it legal..The fine could have been stiffer. For those who don’t know, we waste millions on squat up here. Hey, the stoners even voted to keep taxing themselves too. Moonbat heaven it is. The dogs will tell ya..
GET OFF SARAH’s BACK.....
Spark up another one, Skippy...woof.
Smoke a little more, you can still find your keyboard...
Hey don't look at me, my wife and I were part of the 30%.
“Do you really think people are going to smoke pot any different than they already did?”
Isn’t that what everyone said when they lowered the drinking age to 18 and about 45,000 more fatalities happened? Yeah, making something like driving a vehicle stoned (no, it doesn’t make you a BETTER driver) easier to do is bad. Bad, bad, bad. More dead.
I have a feeling that if your doctor showed up to operate on you drunk, you would know it, and you could call it off. But if he showed up stoned, he might just be able to quietly kill you. This isn’t libertarian BS, this is just common sense.
The police are totally against this and realize it will increase the number of driving accidents. I believe it is up to an ounce of pot you can keep on your person and not be charged.
Our entire country has gone weird. We are becoming a nation of weirdos.
The thing is that property taxes can only go up 2.5 percent regardless yet they continue to use property taxes going up as a reason to keep the 5% state income tax!
On the State Tax issue, of course, anyone who has followed the Big Dig spectacle would be anti tax. Yes, we did see fortunes spent by entities like the various "Education" organizations, and also State Employees unions (Why have a union for people who cannot be gotten rid of, but I digress..). But what was not strongly stressed was that revenge would be taken out on homeowners by even worse Real estate taxes. So, a relative who rents said "I don't own a house and do not pay those taxes, nor do my friends, so getting rid of the income tax would be great".
"Have you ever noticed that every time the taxes go up, you get a rent increase? Of COURSE you pay them."
Silent sounds of Deep Thought)
Pot issue? A shrug. I don't use the stuff, but would prefer to be in the company of someone passively stoned than I would an aggressive combative drunk.
Dog Racing. Some of the tracks have been around for generations and are a deep cultural fixture for many locals. But there was building sentiment against them and sooner or later they were going to go. People did try to adopt out the slow or retired greyhounds..they are really sweet and beautiful dogs. But there was a seedy element to some of the tracks, and the last issue regarding mistreatment was hardly the first to surface. They did delay the closure for a year, so the people could find jobs, and the State could find other sources of graft, kickbacks,and bribes.
That is 2.5% a year. More and more towns have been invaded by activists who campaign for Overrides "For The Children™". They lose. They do it again the next year with more NEA/MTA trough-feeder money. They lose. The next year they win. They never stop.
Then their kids graduate, and they slink back to Cambridge. Where hopefully they die.
Don't get me wrong, I utterly detest the income tax and the sales tax. But trying to get your money away from these parasites is a lot harder than taking crack from a junkie. Why, we are still paying WWII "Temporary" taxes, aren't we?
I don’t believe that is correct. The only thing that changes is the penalty has been reduced to a fine for less than an ounce. Any amount will be confiscated
It is a huge change. You can be carrying up to 12 joints on your person and not be arrested. Yes the police will confiscate but that is the only consequence. What about those driving around who have smoked a few joints and then cause an accident..?
I lived in NH for a couple of years. I voted to keep the income tax. The practical response to the elimination of the income tax is higher property taxes. My outlay in NH for all taxes was far more than it is in MA. Don’t kid yourself—getting rid of the tax was not the answer. We need to get rid of the house and senate. I pray Obama will rid us of this idiot governor.
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