Overcrowded prisons lead to vicious cycle with war on drugs
14:19h
The so-called war on drugs has failed, leaving the taxpayer to pick up the tab, says a panel of local experts.
That panel spent the better part of two hours Monday night inside the Framingham Public Library's Costin Room articulating the systematic problems of the state's approach to criminals who face drug-related charges.
Oregon opened another chapter in U.S. marijuana history when at 4:20 p.m. Friday, about three dozen people christened the nation's first cafe for licensed residents to sit down, sip coffee and smoke marijuana.
"Welcome to a place of our own," said Madeline Martinez, a leader in the state's medical marijuana movement and the leading force pushing to open the Cannabis Cafe in Portland. "Welcome to freedom."
Excited patrons spilled down the outside steps at 700 N.E. Dekum St. as the cafe prepared to open at the appointed hour -- "420" being slang for using marijuana. In line were military veterans, grandmothers, young workers, men and women, old and young, black, white and Latino.
