Politics & Government

Fight Over Medical Marijuana Question Lights Up

A spoof website ignites discussion on both side of the issue.

 

A group fighting to keep marijuana illegal says that a recent spoof of their website was anything but funny, and took a potshot at its creator. 

"This is no joke. This whole situation is demonstrative of the problem at hand: who is really behind this initiative to legalize pot as medicine," a writer on mavotenoonquestion3.com shot back after freelance web designer Scott Gacek revealed that he bought the website the group had listed with the Secretary of State William Galvin's office, VoteNoOnQuestion3.org.

Find out what's happening in West Roxburywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Galvin's office sent out its guide for voters last week, including information on the three ballot questions, with the second website address listed. But since the anti-pot group never registered the URL, Gacek was able to buy it and set up a satirical site claiming that marijuana is a gateway drug to Twinkie addiction and drug dealers want to keep it illegal. 

"Pretty funny, eh? Actually, it isn’t," mavotenoonquestion3.com, Dr. Jay Broadhurst's site, shot back Saturday. In fact, he writes, Gacek isn't interested in marijuana as medicine at all: "He is a photographer who has a hobby of posting pictures of young girls smoking pot on the web: 420.Girls4Ganja.com. Mr. Gacek and people like him provide foreshadows of the issues that Massachusetts will face if Question 3 passes on November 6th."

Find out what's happening in West Roxburywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

But Gacek says he was just having a laugh. “I wanted to poke some fun at some of the reasons why people will say that medical marijuana is bad,” he told the Boston Globe.

Brown Opposes Medical Marijuana

Meanwhile, Broadhurst has stepped up his battle against legalizing marijuana. And on Friday, Sen. Scott Brown said he agrees with this position. At the same time, supporters including doctors, are responding by being more vocal about what they see as marijuana's benefits. Elizabeth Warren, Brown's Democratic opponent, does not appear to have taken a position one way or the other on Question 3.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here