Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol strikes back at Gov. Charlie Baker, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh

Source: Mass Live

Gintautas Dumcius

April 15, 2016

The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol on Friday called Gov. Charlie Baker and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh hypocrites for opposing the legalization of marijuana for recreational use.

The campaign took an aggressive stance against a committee called Campaign for a Safe and Healthy Massachusetts, formed on Thursday by advisers to Baker and Walsh. Baker’s political committee has already blasted out a fundraising email to help the anti-marijuana legalization committee raise money.

At a press conference outside the State House, Will Luzier, the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol campaign manager, touted a poster that featured the pictures of Walsh and Baker, with the word bubble above their heads saying, “Our health policy: Drink more alcohol!”

Walsh is a recovering alcoholic.

Marijuana is “significantly less addictive than alcohol” and is a “relatively benign plant,” Luzier said, adding that Baker and Walsh support more alcohol beverage licenses and expanding bar operating hours.

Asked if it was appropriate to put the words “Drink more alcohol” in Walsh’s mouth, Luzier said, “His advocacy for the expansion of operating hours for alcohol establishments and the expansion of licenses in the city of Boston, I believe, are in conflict with his position as a recovering alcoholic. That’s a question you’ll have to ask him.”

The question legalizing marijuana for recreational use and setting up a state Cannabis Commission is on track for the November statewide ballot.

Corey Welford, a spokesman for the Campaign for a Safe and Healthy Massachusetts, decried the poster as part of “absurd, disingenuous attacks from the marijuana industry.”

“The marijuana industry is the only one that stands to make billions in profits from this new law, and they will do and say anything to distract from the real issue,” Welford said in an email. “The fact is that legalizing marijuana will increase addiction and harm our kids. That is why this proposed law is good for corporate marijuana, and bad for Massachusetts families.”