Ignoring the will of the electorate

I almost missed this editorial in Metrowest Daily News on the recent success of the marijuana initiatives in Mass. I'm always surprised when this paper, serving a rather conservative area of the state, comes up with such liberal views.

About 68 percent of voters in towns represented by Sen. Richard Moore, D-Uxbridge, endorsed the idea of letting terminally ill patients possess or grow marijuana for medical use with a physician's permission. Moore was unconvinced, telling a Daily News reporter that "until there is some scientific evidence or the federal laws permit some kind of use of it, I don't see what we can do to implement the ballot question."

Hogwash. Moore, the Senate chairman of the joint Health Care Committee, could call a hearing at the drop of a hat and ask for the evidence. He could hear from top medical researchers and from terminally ill patients -- including some, we expect, in his own district -- who are now forced to break the law to get the only medicine that relieves their symptoms. He could find out how things have worked in the nine states that have already approved medical marijuana bills.

Metrowest also disses Jim Vallee, D-Franklin, House chairman of the Criminal Justice Committee, for wimping out on the issue after 57% of his constituents approved a measure to make marijuana possession a civil violation, like a traffic ticket, instead of a criminal offense. The editorial points out, as chair he could certainly take a leadership role if he had the bullocks for it. The editorial sums it up well.

The irony here is that politicians typically steer clear of marijuana laws out of fear that voters will think them soft on drugs. Moore's and Vallee's constituents have given them permission, by wide margins, to explore a touchy area of public policy, yet still they shy away.

State legislators aren't required to take orders from their constituents, and ballot questions carefully worded by advocacy groups for maximum effect don't necessarily translate to good laws. But the districts and the state are poorly served by lawmakers who go out of their way to ignore the clearly expressed wishes of their constituents..

Amen.