UNDERMINING THE MARIJUANA BALLOT VOTE

It’s surprising how tolerant we seem to be of all the tinkering with the people’s decision to legalize marjjuana. The ballot measure, passed by a convincing majority of 54% to 46%, is called a “law” in a recent AP article and yet state lawmakers (and police chiefs) are treating it like a very rough draft subject to a lot of editing, most of which will have the effect of weakening it. Sheer prejudice against pot seems to be the dominant attitude among those in charge of implementing the law. Instead of: “OK, the people really want this, let’s make it happen” it’s: “Damn, now we have to save them from their own foolishness.”

There was a story in early December on a possible Falmouth ban on recreational pot stores. The police chief (all police chiefs seem to regard themselves as ex officio protectors of the public against its own vote) warned against locating one downtown. Will families want to come downtown to check out the town’s Christmas tree display with pot stores in the vicinity? Christmas trees and liquor stores, of course, no problem, even if alcohol always shows up in studies as far more of a social menace.

We’re comfortable with alcohol. Despite all the drunk driving and home-wrecking statistics, booze has installed itself amongst us as the accepted way of softening the hard edges of life. Pot, on the other hand, is seen by some, including apparently many of those trying to undermine the ballot initiative, as vaguely subversive of our whole way of life, like the ‘sixties “counterculture” of which it was the drug of choice.

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