Younger members of the Kennedy political dynasty have emerged as high-profile opponents of medical marijuana and across-the-board legalization of the drug.
Former Rhode Island congressman Patrick Kennedy has joined forces with David Frum, a former Bush II speechwriter, and others to launch SAM, Smart Approaches to Marijuana, a bipartisan coalition to lobby against medical marijuana and broader legalization.
Instead of incarceration, Kennedy wants to see people arrested for marijuana possession assigned to mandatory drug treatment programs. As for medical uses, he favors using a strain of the drug that would be more closely regulated by federal authorities.
Liberals, Kennedy believes, are reflexively disposed to support legalization and he thinks they should change their tune. For Kennedy, marijuana is a gateway drug that “directly contributes to mental illness.” He told The Washington Post that has used marijuana but declined to provide specifics.
Kennedy has had his own problems with drug addiction. He was involved in a 2006 Capitol Hill car accident in which prescription medications were a contributing factor and retired from Congress five years later.
Kennedy plans to join his cousin Christopher Kennedy Lawford, who has also battled drug and alcohol problems, on Lawford’s book tour to promote a self-help guide to manage addictions. US Rep. Joseph Kennedy III, another of Patrick Kennedy’s cousins, opposed the recently passed Massachusetts ballot initiative legalizing medical marijuana.
Pro-pot advocates are decidedly unimpressed by Kennedy’s crusade. Some believe that legalization to put marijuana on a par with alcohol is the best way forward.
The US is neck-deep in contradictions over pot. President Obama has instructed the Justice Department to back off marijuana prosecutions even though marijuana possession is still a federal crime. Gil Kerlikowske, the head of the president’s Office of National Drug Control Policy, has come out against medical marijuana, saying that relaxed attitudes toward the drug are sending “a terrible message” to teenagers.
The Kennedy clan’s involvement and the convoluted messages coming from federal officials leave the fight over marijuana at a stalemate, one that leaves the states, as usual, forging ahead to confront this next skirmish in the war on drugs as best they can.
Eighteen states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for medical uses. Washington state and Colorado recently legalized pot in small quantities. Bay State voters decriminalized marijuana possession in 2008 and recent sentencing reforms have also eased mandatory sentences for certain other nonviolent drug offenses.
Kennedy’s focus on treatment does mesh with the latest law enforcement trends. With US prison populations bulging, in part, because of laws that mandate incarceration for minor drug offenses, sanctions for low-level drug use are gradually shifting away from prison time and toward treatment programs.
Vermont’s “Rapid Referral” program demonstrates that getting people into treatment at arraignment, rather than waiting for a trial that could take place months down the road, lowers recidivism rates to less than 20 percent.
–GABRIELLE GURLEY
Beacon Hill
The husband of disgraced state chemist Annie Dookhan warned a state prosecutor that his wife was a chronic liar nearly two years before she was caught improperly removing evidence from a state lab, the Globe reports.
Rep. David Linsky is preparing to file legislation requiring gun owners to buy liability insurance and store any large-capacity weapons at licensed gun clubs instead of their homes, CommonWealth reports. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is proposing a crackdown on assault weapons, the New York Times reports. His counterpart in New Jersey, Chris Christie, won’t say whether he’ll follow suit. Vice President Joe Biden is set to meet with gun control groups and the NRA, The Hill reports.
Lt. Gov. Tim Murray says the number of homeless veterans in Massachusetts is dropping. A survey one year ago found 1,181 homeless vets, down 7 percent from the year before, the Associated Press reports (via Lowell Sun).
Overall legislative staff spending is down, but top aides to Beacon Hill leaders recently raked in double-digit raises.
The Herald tees up opposition in the Governor’s Council to a Roxbury judge whose colleagues complained, anonymously, that they had to cover her caseload while she was serving in the Marine Corps reserves. Howie Carr piles on.
Municipal Matters
The Salem City Council, on its 302d vote, appoints freelance writer William Legault to the seat vacated by Joan Lovely, who was elected to the state Senate, the Salem News reports.
A report from the state’s Division of Local Services says Marshfield should change its governing structure to operate more efficiently.
Moody’s Analytics says the nation’s municipalities are in their best shape since the Great Recession, Bloomberg News reports (via Telegram & Gazette). CommonWealth reports Massachusetts cities and towns are in good shape, although problems are looming.
Five of the eight members of the Abington Conservation Commission resigned because of an ongoing nasty dispute between two neighbors that drew the board into the conflict and put them at odds with two selectmen.
State cuts to Norfolk’s prison mitigation payments have thrown the town’s budget into deficit.
National Politics/Washington
Five interesting factoids about Richard Nixon on what would have been his 100th birthday, including the tidbit that he used to chauffeur his future wife on dates she had with other men.
The New York Times examines how the Vietnam War shaped John Kerry and Chuck Hagel.
Illinois is preparing to issue drivers licenses to illegal immigrants, the Chicago Tribune reports.
Elections
Congress’s image is taking a beating. A new poll from Public Policy Polling finds Congress with a 9 percent favorability rating. In a head-to-head matchup with lice, Congress loses out 67-19.
State Democratic Party chief John Walsh says he expects a Democratic primary in the race to succeed US Sen. John Kerry. Ed Markey, who is likely to trumpet his consumer advocacy record in the upcoming special election for US Senate, has nonetheless raised boatloads of campaign money from media and telecommunications companies.
Newton physician Donald Berwick, a Democrat who served recently as director of the federal Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services, is “strongly considering” a run for governor in 2014.
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino says he still has a lot of energy to run the city, WBUR reports.
Business/Economy
The Lowell Sun, in an editorial, says a sprinkler system at a condo complex in Chelmsford probably would have saved lives. CommonWealth raised similar concerns in a report on the lack of sprinklers at two-thirds of the state’s schools.
A new book suggests Internet service providers should be regulated as public utilities in a bid to improve service, Time reports.
AIG may sue the US government. This, of course, would be a perfect way for the company to thank the government for saving it.
A Wall Street Journal op-ed columnist suggests tackling the entitlement crisis by outsourcing the economy to robots.
Apple is working on a cheaper iPhone.
Education
Saugus High School principal Joseph Diorio hasn’t been seen around school since before Christmas break and officials have given no explanation why. Amid swirling rumors, some students have posted fliers saying he is missing and has exceeded his five unexcused absences, the Item reports.
Jacob “Body by Jake” Steinfeld dedicates $100,000 of exercise equipment at a Lawrence school to help students get their weight under control. A 2010 study found Lawrence students were the most overweight in the state, the Eagle-Tribune reports.
A former Newton teacher who pled guilty to child pornography gets 45 years in prison, NECN reports.
Health Care
Citing reduced payments and Medicare reimbursements, Steward Health Care told employees at St. Anne’s Hospital in Fall River it is eliminating its security personnel and contracting out the service. Those losing their jobs are told they can work for the new contractor.
Boston Children’s Hospital has struck a partnership with a California company to form a firm to develop diagnostic tests, another sign of the movement of nonprofit hospitals into commercial enterprises that can help support their operations.
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center joins the accountable care organization movement.
Transportation
Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell, who ran for office pledging not to raise taxes, proposes eliminating the state’s gas tax and hiking the sales tax to pay for roads, rail, and transit, the Washington Post reports.
West Bridgewater police said they were shocked by the number of drivers pulled over for texting while driving during a crackdown Saturday afternoon. One woman said she was not texting but rather was on Facebook.
Energy/Environment
Last year was the warmest on record for the United States.
The future of a proposed Dartmouth solar farm is unclear after the Planning Board was unable to muster the supermajority required to alter a restriction on the development. Developer Mary O’Donnell also did herself no favors when she labeled the one member of the panel who voted against the change “a lunatic.”
Criminal Justice
A federal judge seemed sympathetic at a hearing yesterday to the defense argument that US District Court Judge Richard Stearns, a former federal prosecutor, might not be the best one to preside over the Whitey Bulger trial.
Media
The Associated Press starts selling ads in its tweets, the Nieman Journalism Lab reports.
The results from the most controversial ballot in the history of the Baseball Hall of Fame will be announced this afternoon, and Keller@Large talks with two local voters who have differing views on whether those who used or are suspected of steroid use should be admitted to Cooperstown.
