jct74
04-23-2016, 12:42 PM
Good summary of the state of the marijuana reform movement in the New England area right now. Looks like the Vermont legislative effort (http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?490780-Vermont-Senate-approves-marijuana-legalization-16-13) to legalize has stalled out some but could be revived in a weakened form. Legalization ballot initiative coming in Massachusetts for 2016 which gubmint officials are actively opposing. Maine legalization could be on the ballot as well in 2016 but Secretary of State is currently holding up.
Marijuana Legalization in New England Is Stalled by Opiate Crisis
By JESS BIDGOOD
APRIL 19, 2016
MONTPELIER, Vt. — First came Colorado and Washington. Then Alaska, Oregon and Washington, D.C. Now advocates for legal marijuana are looking to New England, hoping this part of the country will open a new front in their efforts to expand legalization nationwide.
But this largely liberal region is struggling with the devastating effect of opiate abuse, which is disrupting families, taxing law enforcement agencies and taking lives. And many lawmakers and public officials are balking at the idea of legalizing a banned substance, citing potential social costs.
“The shadow of the heroin epidemic is something that people think about when they think about the legalization, and they ask themselves, ‘Are we sending the right message about legalization?’ ” said Shap Smith, the speaker of the House in Vermont, who is open to legalizing marijuana. “I think in the public’s mind, it’s making passage of this bill more difficult.”
A Vermont bill supported by Gov. Peter Shumlin, a Democrat, and approved by the State Senate in February would create a regulated market for recreational marijuana in this deeply progressive state — the cradle of Phish and New England’s proud hippie haven.
But the bill is hobbling through the House, where it was stripped this month of the parts that would allow legalization. As of Friday, it contains only a cautious provision to allow home-growing and legalized possession of small amounts of marijuana — well short of the regulated market that Mr. Shumlin has called for.
...
read more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/20/us/marijuana-legalization-in-new-england-is-stalled-by-opiate-crisis.html
This is also relevant information to the NYT article that perhaps should have been mentioned:
States That Have Medical Marijuana Have Lower Rates of Heroin and Painkiller Overdoses
A major finding showing the social value of medical cannabis.
By Paul Armentano / NORML
August 26, 2014
The enactment of medicinal marijuana laws is associated with significantly lower state-level opioid overdose mortality rates, according to data published online today in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Internal Medicine.
A team of investigators from the University of Pennsylvania, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore conducted a time-series analysis of medical cannabis laws and state-level death certificate data in the United States from 1999 to 2010 — a period during which 13 states instituted laws allowing for cannabis therapy.
Researchers reported, “States with medical cannabis laws had a 24.8% lower mean annual opioid overdose mortality rate compared with states without medical cannabis laws.” Specifically, overdose deaths from opioids decreased by an average of 20 percent one year after the law’s implementation, 25 percent by two years, and up to 33 percent by years five and six.
...
http://www.alternet.org/drugs/states-have-medical-marijuana-have-lower-rates-heroin-and-painkiller-overdoses
Marijuana Legalization in New England Is Stalled by Opiate Crisis
By JESS BIDGOOD
APRIL 19, 2016
MONTPELIER, Vt. — First came Colorado and Washington. Then Alaska, Oregon and Washington, D.C. Now advocates for legal marijuana are looking to New England, hoping this part of the country will open a new front in their efforts to expand legalization nationwide.
But this largely liberal region is struggling with the devastating effect of opiate abuse, which is disrupting families, taxing law enforcement agencies and taking lives. And many lawmakers and public officials are balking at the idea of legalizing a banned substance, citing potential social costs.
“The shadow of the heroin epidemic is something that people think about when they think about the legalization, and they ask themselves, ‘Are we sending the right message about legalization?’ ” said Shap Smith, the speaker of the House in Vermont, who is open to legalizing marijuana. “I think in the public’s mind, it’s making passage of this bill more difficult.”
A Vermont bill supported by Gov. Peter Shumlin, a Democrat, and approved by the State Senate in February would create a regulated market for recreational marijuana in this deeply progressive state — the cradle of Phish and New England’s proud hippie haven.
But the bill is hobbling through the House, where it was stripped this month of the parts that would allow legalization. As of Friday, it contains only a cautious provision to allow home-growing and legalized possession of small amounts of marijuana — well short of the regulated market that Mr. Shumlin has called for.
...
read more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/20/us/marijuana-legalization-in-new-england-is-stalled-by-opiate-crisis.html
This is also relevant information to the NYT article that perhaps should have been mentioned:
States That Have Medical Marijuana Have Lower Rates of Heroin and Painkiller Overdoses
A major finding showing the social value of medical cannabis.
By Paul Armentano / NORML
August 26, 2014
The enactment of medicinal marijuana laws is associated with significantly lower state-level opioid overdose mortality rates, according to data published online today in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Internal Medicine.
A team of investigators from the University of Pennsylvania, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore conducted a time-series analysis of medical cannabis laws and state-level death certificate data in the United States from 1999 to 2010 — a period during which 13 states instituted laws allowing for cannabis therapy.
Researchers reported, “States with medical cannabis laws had a 24.8% lower mean annual opioid overdose mortality rate compared with states without medical cannabis laws.” Specifically, overdose deaths from opioids decreased by an average of 20 percent one year after the law’s implementation, 25 percent by two years, and up to 33 percent by years five and six.
...
http://www.alternet.org/drugs/states-have-medical-marijuana-have-lower-rates-heroin-and-painkiller-overdoses