Over the last few weeks, there have been a few letters published on the topic of Massachusetts’ ballot question 4, whether we should legalize recreational marijuana like Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska have. These letters were rife with lies and fear tactics, so I feel compelled to respond - but with facts and data. You, my fellow American, deserve to be a well-informed and educated voter.

Let’s break down why “Yes on 4”, the argument for legalization, with facts and sources to back them up:

1. Assumed dangers

Marijuana has a long-carried stigma as a “gateway drug” but there’s actually zero data to support that. The truth is the majority of marijuana users never go on to use any other harder substances, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. In 2012, some folks were afraid legalizing medical marijuana here in Massachusetts would lead to heavy use and abuse by teens. However, high school students’ usage actually decreased from 28 percent in 2011 - before medical marijuana was legal - to 25 percent in 2013, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

And what about younger children? Well, “kids are much more likely to be poisoned by any number of common household products, like diaper cream, toothpaste, or energy drinks, than they are to be poisoned by marijuana,” and “2014 data from the National Poison Data Center show that poison control receives calls about the accidental ingestion of tobacco more than 10 times as often as it receives calls about accidental ingestion of marijuana for children under the age of 5,” according to the Washington Post.

2. Impact on the opioid epidemic

The opioid epidemic is real, it is terrifying, and should be a top priority for all leaders and politicians in our region. It is a crisis that needs to be handled immediately. Unfortunately because of our broken drug classification system, Americans are continually misinformed about the differences between marijuana and, say, heroin. But not only is pot worlds apart from opioids, according to DrugFree.org, medical marijuana is actually being used to treat opioid addiction. The Journal of the American Medical Association found that states with legal access to pot saw 25 percent fewer opioid overdose deaths, and according to another leading journal of health policy, Health Affairs, prescriptions for opioids declined significantly in states with medical marijuana programs. And there have been zero recorded marijuana overdose deaths ever. Not in New England, not across America, nowhere across the globe. None, according to the Centers for Disease Control. So not only is pot absolutely nothing like the scourge of opioids, it’s actually an ally in the fight against the opioid epidemic.

3. Colorado’s example

January 1, 2014 marked the beginning of Colorado’s implementation of their legalized recreational marijuana law. So how has it been going for Colorado so far?

The Boston Globe reported House Speaker Dickey Lee Hullinghorst as saying: “there are a certain number of folks, like myself, who were pretty reticent about it to begin with" ...but “the sky didn’t fall. Everything seems to be working pretty well.”

Adding: "Dr. Larry Wolk, the top medical official in Colorado’s public health department, said that since legalization no large troubling public health trends have cropped up yet."

And: "The consensus among several top state officials... is that there have been no widely felt negative effects on the state."

And according to the Washington Post, teen use of marijuana has not increased at all since Colorado’s legalization.

Not only has Colorado felt minimal negative impact, the state has been making money hand over fist through legalization and regulation. On average, in 2016 Colorado is bringing in close to $100 million per month in tax revenues, and is on pace to make over $1 billion this year alone, according to the Colorado Department of Revenue. Legalized and regulated marijuana tax revenues are having a massively positive impact on funding for schools, infrastructure, and helping the homeless, according to the Denver Post. As Governor Baker struggles to balance our state’s budget, and facing layoffs and budget cuts, I think we can all agree that Massachusetts would also benefit greatly from additional revenues for those very same reasons, and more. And if we do say “Yes on 4”, according to the Boston Globe, Massachusetts would get just that: over $1 billion a year in additional tax revenues from what it proving out to be a fairly harmless plant.

4. Supporters

Support for this initiative spans far and wide, across all walks of life: public safety officers, law & policy organizations, health care professionals, academics, business, and even clergy. You can read the extensive list of endorsers on the “Yes on 4” website, RegulateMassachusetts.org, but I’ll cap this abbreviated list with a recent endorsement from our wicked smart friends over at The Harvard Crimson a few miles east.

In conclusion, I understand that some people have some deeply-rooted feelings when it comes to marijuana. Fortunately today, we are in an enlightened age of information, and thanks to bold states like Colorado and Washington, we now have facts and data that refute most of those long-standing but ill-informed assumptions: that with regulation, taxation, and education, legalizing marijuana has massive upside and very little risk. I myself have a 3-year-old at home, and I can honestly say I'd feel as comfortable responsibly having marijuana in my house as I already do today with alcohol.

When you're in the voting booth this election cycle, please remember these facts and vote with your head. Vote 'yes' on 4.

E. Tabone

Wayland