Somerville rocks, so why does our Mayor oppose Question 2?

[ron_newman]

Somerville has a well-deserved image of being a haven for offbeat and creative types, so I'm confused and disappointed to see Mayor Joe take part in a press conference opposing Question 2.

As the city's press release itself points out, "Question 2 would decriminalize marijuana use and make possession of small amounts of marijuana punishable only with a fine similar to a traffic violation." (Actually, the police can also seize the marijuana.) That seems to me like just plain common sense. It saves the city money by not wasting police and court time on prosecuting a victimless "crime".

The campaigners against Question 2 call themselves the "Coalition for Safe Streets", but this question has nothing to do with either safety or streets.

Why did you do this, Mayor Joe?

Comments

[gwodder.livejournal.com]

yes, sometimes we have to punish guiltless people in a semi randomly fashion because of what the bad people in another place are doing. official policy.

[ilai]

If the column above is to believed, no one was charged on just marijuana possession last year--the ones charged were also allegedly doing other bad things. But yeah, that doesn't really mean the current policy makes sense.