I think it is bad all together. Certainly do not want one on the Cape, my son would love it though.

If marijuana is legal, it should be administered in hospitals and used there so it is NOT resold on the street which is gonna be a huge problem.

Bill, that would not work unless you moved all the people who would have a prescription for it into the hospital. You can't just take it there and go home as you would need to take it later. That doesn't make any sense. Do you live at CVS when you get a script for anything until it's gone? I hate to disappoint you, but it's already on the streets, has been since long before my time. This time is a time for change and there will be issues everywhere until it becomes normal, the same as any other change in our lives. It used to be legal, and people survived just fine.
I am looking forward to this change for all the people it will help.

This is just a gateway law to fully legal weed. The only "huge problem" associated with marijuana is an overcrowded prison system. Soon enough folks will be able to buy their fatties at cigar stores and guys like Bill will learn to live with it.

Medical Marijuana, in other states where it IS legal already, can only be dispensed from LICENSED growers and sellers. It must be pesticide free, pest free and grown under controlled conditions in order to pass for MEDICINAL. A person who would use marijuana could only buy from a LICENSED seller. I can guarantee that no cigar shop could sell MEDICAL marijuana. It is also being made into other things like lollipops, brownies, etc. for those people who cannot smoke. There has been marijuana selling on the streets since I was a young lady. I do not believe it is habit forming, not like heroin or pills. And, if it did get one person to give up the heroin in place of the suboxyn (that is just as addicting as heroin) then I applaud the people for voting it in !!

Marijuana smoking is habit-forming, nearly to the degree of addiction. Ask any person who routinely smokes marijuana if they can quit. They will probably answer "yes", but in actuality will find it very difficult to quit. Many marijuana smokers find that over time, the high is just not enough anymore. Therefore, they will seek a new drug to get a better high. Hence, the "Gateway" drug. Anyone who says that marijuana smoking is harmless, clearly has blinded themselves to the extreme violence associated with the trade of marijuana. Tens of thousands of people die every year with the growing, distribution and street trade of marijuana. Legalizing marijuana will not end this violent system.

Our country has plenty of alcoholics, but we're not banning alcohol in the forseeable future. Proponents of legal marijuana want the personal freedom to smoke weed as others are free to have a drink. It's a great hypocrisy to allow one and not the other. Legalize pot, tax it like alcohol, and spend the enormous revenues on education. Violence and cost of criminal caging associated with marijuana will end with legalization as it did when prohibition of alcohol ended.

weed mellows! when people get into major issues that requires law enforcement... (domestics, disturbing the peace, fights in bars, etc..). you can rest assured alcohol will be present!!
how many calls do police get with a couple of people smoking a little weed, mellowing out.. minding their business... nOt many!!
i say yes, about time marijuana gets some respect! ;)

The above comments reinforce my previous statement about marijuana users being oblivious to the violence associated with the growing and distribution. Marijuana does not magically appear in the living room of the end-user where they "mellow". It is grown and distributed through gangs and criminal organizations. These people make a tremendous amount of cash with this business. They will and do routinely create violence Toward anyone who gets in their way. If you do not believe that much of the violence in our community is related to the distribution of marijuana, you are horribly mistaken. If you do not believe me, try ripping off your dealer and see what happens. Better yet, try legalizing it and taxing it. How do you think the growers/distributors/dealers are going to react when you tell them you're taking away their business and source of income?

Furthermore, your attempt to rationalize the legalization of marijuana by comparing it to our social cancers of alcoholism and cigarette addictions is not helping your case. Are you saying that by adding one more problem to our society we will be better off? I fail to see the justification, or your sense of reasoning.

Whether people like it or not mary jane warner was here is here and will always be here.Nothing has changed......mind your own business is a nice one to know.....may i say on behalf of those who want it ....do you mind if we get some enjoyment out of life ? ....Work allergy sufferers have found the gateway to heaven ....if you have a job keep your mouth shut ...I am trying to sleep and I have to be up at the crack of noon...

A repeal of marijuana prohibition will bring similar results to repeal of alcohol prohibition. The producers/dealers will either go legit or find another line of business. Tax revenues will increase and the great many people who are not addicts will enjoy the freedom to legally buy, use, and benefit from occasional or daily use as other Americans do with a drink. Alcohol is not a social cancer, but addiction is. As a society we are better off letting people make their own decisions. That's not a justification, it's a truly American concept called individual freedom.

"Go legit"? Are you serious? Clearly you have no understanding of the drug trade. These are people that have extensive criminal histories. By no means can they become legitimate by attaining a "license". Their criminal records will prohibit this from happening. They are not going to just lay down their arms and say "okay, go ahead, you can take my business."
Please do not distort this with your defense of American freedoms. You are preaching to the wrong person with misinformation. I have a rather intimate knowledge of the drug trade. I see the effects that it has on our community on a daily basis. I see thugs with guns, the violence, the shootings, the money… I see the 12-year-olds buying/selling/smoking weed. Many of them do not make it to adulthood before they are shot, stabbed, or locked up for some violent crime associated with dealing weed.

Since I have the intestinal fortitude to use my full and real name I won't be disclosing how I know what I know about this issue. However I'm quite serious that some growers and sellers will happily go legit, and may use any of numerous willing and qualifying people to legally front the business if they are legally prevented from doing so themselves. You seem to at least understand that there are several levels on the drug dealing chain, so you should be able grasp the idea that just as the Mafia moved beyond bootlegging after repeal of prohibition, so will big time pot growers/dealers. After all, there will still be plenty of illegal drugs to sell after marijuana is legalized. You fail to describe a believable scenario where a pot grower/dealer would go all Medieval on a legal establishment, especially in cities where there are dozens of them. I suppose they could still sell illegally to your 12 year old friends, but once the legal process starts rolling, those kids will be able to clip a spliff from their mom's purse. You may want to look at how the repeal of alcohol prohibition played out in these United States, as history often repeats itself. There are many financial and political similarities, which is why repeal of marijuana is gaining acceptance and going to happen. It's not a question of if, but when, and your fear tactics, like those of the 1930s, simply won't work on the majority of Americans who know better.

Fear tactics? I don't think you Have a full understanding of what fear is. What is the closest you've been to a situation when shots are fired because of a deal gone bad? You can stop making a comparison to the prohibition of alcohol. It has little if any relevance to this matter. You're trying to compare apples to oranges. Bootleggers did not create the havoc that modern-day marijuana growers and sellers do. Not many were murdered for stealing a bottle of whiskey. Tens of thousands of people have been murdered in the marijuana trade in recent years. That is stuff that potheads do not want to hear while they are "mellowing", is it?

It's a Freedom issue, short and simple. It is just not the place of the government to have any say in this. We are either free people who govern ourselves or we are subjects and slaves!!!

Its a common sense issue. If you believe marijuana should be illegal, you are an idiot and you shouldn't be talking anyway.

The question was "How Would You Feel About Having a Marijuana Dispensary in Town?"
My answer: I'd like one in my back yard!

@Taryn: I agree with everything you wrote up till the back yard. I'm for legalizing it outright, taxing the hell out of it and using the revenue to fund education. For now, I'd rather the dispensaries be located away from residential areas.

@Andrew - Since everyone around here is always saying "not in my back yard" (NIMBY), I thought it humorous to say I'd like one in my back yard. Obviously zoning wouldn't allow such a thing. We'll be lucky to have just one dispensary on the whole Cape for starters. It would be easier to just decriminalize pot altogether and skip the step of dispensaries, but at least we're headed in the right direction.