Photo via Amanda Brooks ’17
While neither presidential candidate may excite you this election term, you still need to go vote to exercise your rights and make your voice heard. However, for Massachusetts voters, the presidential candidates aren’t the only question bubbles to fill out on the ballot this term.
Massachusetts is one of 24 states that allows citizen-initiated ballot measures, a form of direct democracy that lets citizens have direct input into their legislation. These questions require almost 65,000 signatures in the state of Massachusetts to pass onto the state legislature, which then approves or denies them.
Four questions were approved for the 2016 ballot; Question 1 would allow for a second slots parlor, Question 2 would expand charter schools, Question 3 would prohibit certain confinement for farm animals, and Question 4 would legalize recreational marijuana for individuals over the age of 21.
Massachusetts is one of 17 states (not New York, sorry!) voting on the legalization of either medical or recreational marijuana. Question 4 would allow for possession of 10 ounces in the home and up to one ounce outside of the home. Marijuana could be grown, sold, distributed, and used out-side of the home, and criminal penalties would be taken away for possession of the substance.
The fact that citizens have a say in this decision to legalize marijuana is mind-blowing to me as a voter, and we need to take advantage of this opportunity. Marijuana has never lead to a fatal overdose, unlike alcohol, and no research has indicated that it causes cancer, unlike tobacco. Marijuana has been possibly linked to traffic accidents, but as the drug stays in the body for weeks, data hasn’t been conclusive. Additionally, alcohol, a legal substance causing inebriation, has a much more debilitating effect and has been linked to far more fatal car accidents. Both alcohol and tobacco are legal for 21-year-olds, so why not marijuana?
The State of Colorado passed Colorado Amendment 64 back in 2012, which was also a popular-initiative ballot measure aimed at legalizing the use, distribution, and sale of recreational marijuana. Since then, the state has seen no increase in the use of marijuana and marijuana-linked traffic accidents. In addition, Colorado’s economy has been positively affected by the legalization of marijuana, due to approximately $15 million of tax revenue collected per year, increased numbers of tourists, and savings in law enforcement, which had been arresting 10,000 citizens per year for possession of the substance.
Putting marijuana into the state’s economic system as a legal good that can be regulated and taxed would be one of the smartest things Massachusetts, or any state, could do. The substance has been shown to be safer than legal substances like alcohol and tobacco and would positively influence the economy.
These ballot measures should give you another reason to go out and vote this November, no matter for whom you are voting for President.