The Boston Globe - 20.08.2019

A8 Editorial The Boston Globe TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2019

M

assachusetts’ marijuana regulators are

drafting policies that will allow the

opening of the state’s first “bud bars.”

Yet a bill to address the issue of pot-

impaired drivers hasn’t even gotten a

hearing on Beacon Hill.

The Cannabis Control Commission took public com-

ment for two days last week and expects to finalize its

latest set of regulations governing the burgeoning in-

dustry shortly after Labor Day. Those regs require that

any marketing of the product “include the statement

‘Please Consume Responsibly’ ” and “a minimum of

two” warning phrases. One of those, not surprisingly, is

“Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influ-

ence of this drug.”

In addition, the proposed new “Social Consumption”

sites will have to put in place “procedures to ensure that

consumers are not overserved” and have plans “to as-

sist Consumers who may be impaired in finding means

of transportation.”

All well and good. But the regulations don’t address

what happens when the “overserved” decide to get be-

hind the wheel. That can only be done by legislation

and thus far lawmakers seem to be in no great hurry to

do so — despite the fact that the state already has 23 li-

censed recreational marijuana shops and more than

twice as many medical marijuana facilities.

Governor Charlie Baker filed a bill last January that

would apply the equivalent of the state’s open container

law for alcohol to marijuana. No one should be smok-

ing behind the wheel, period, and loose or unsealed

packages of pot would be prohibited anywhere within

easy reach.

It would also authorize courts to take

judicial notice that ingesting THC, the

active chemical in marijuana, can and

does impair motorists. Most important,

it would mandate that any driver pulled

over by police for suspicion of driving

under the influence who then refuses

parts of the 12-step Drug Recognition

Expert (DRE) protocol would lose their

license for at least six months — in the

same way anyone who refuses a Breathalyzer test for

the presence of alcohol does now.

Baker’s bill also increased the number of DRE-

trained police officers from the current 150 to 350

statewide. The DRE program is coordinated by the In-

ternational Association of Chiefs of Police, with support

from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administra-

tion, and is generally viewed as the best way to measure

impairment absent a Breathalyzer equivalent for pot.

The DRE assessment, which includes aspects of a

field sobriety test and examination of the driver’s eyes

and blood pressure, among other things, may not be

foolproof, but it’s the best tool we’ve got at the moment.

And most of all, it would provide the needed deter-

rent, sending a message that driving under the influ-

ence is inherently risky and should be curtailed.

The DRE protocol and other aspects of the Baker bill

were based on the near-unanimous

recommendations of a special com-

mission assigned to update the state’s

law to address drugged driving.

And the governor’s office points to

statistics compiled between 2013 and

2017 (the state’s first medical marijua-

na facility opened in 2015) that

showed 30 percent of drivers in fatal

accidents had drugs in their system at

the time of the crash. Marijuana was

the most prevalent of those drugs. In other words,

stoned driving needs to be taken much more seriously

than it has been so far. And if Massachusetts is to now

throw in social consumption sites and make bud bars

the equivalent of the local pub, it needs the tools to

keep its roads safe.

Remember, advocates of the successful marijuana le-

galization initiative said they just wanted the drug reg-

ulated like alcohol. That ought to extend to safeguards

against impaired driving, and when legislators shake

the sand out of their shoes and return to the business of

lawmaking, they ought to put it near the top of their

agenda.

‘Bud bars’ up the ante for driver law update

Opinion

BOSTONGLOBE.COM/OPINION

Lisa Goldblatt Grace

I

t is hard to make sense of the death of Chloe Ri-

card,the 1 3-year-oldAmesburygirlwhodiedin

May after being dropped off unconscious at Law-

rence General Hospital. Carlos Rivera has been ac-

cused of giving her cocaine and sexually assaulting

her.

A month before her death, Chloe came to My Life My

Choice,whichworkstoendchildsextrafficking.Her

mentor was struck by Chloe’s intelligence and insight. She

loved Chloe’s sense of humor

and how much she loved her

family. But she also remem-

bers the way Chloe’s eyes told

a story — the heaviness there.

She was afraid for Chloe’s

safety.

Chloe had been referred to

My Life My Choice because

her mother and others in her

life were worried about her.

They were afraid she was be-

ing exploited, and she was.

Her mentor had also been ex-

ploited as a teenager, and she

knew how challenging the

path to safety was. As more information has come out

about the pain that Chloe was in, and how she was sexual-

ly exploited, we asked her mother if we could come for-

ward to honor Chloe.

The mistakes we make as 13-year-olds are not sup-

posed to be the end of our lives. We are supposed to learn

things and have another shot. This isn’t about making

bad choices. When sex is exchanged for anything of value

to a child — money, food, drugs — this is sexual exploita-

tion, an egregious form of child abuse. Sexual exploitation

is about the absence of choice. It is when someone of pow-

er preys on someone vulnerable. That vulnerability can

take many forms. It is most frequently the pain of having

a childhood of abuse or neglect and lacking a stable home

base in which to feel loved, or of having grown up in the

care of the child welfare system. Over half of the young

people we cared for last year were exploited before age 15.

And 85 percent were in the care of the Massachusetts De-

partment of Children and Families.

But vulnerability can take other forms as well. Some-

times someone’s mental health crumbles in the face of re-

lentless grief, the kind of grief that Chloe experienced

when she lost her father. It can be the lure and the trap of

drugs that make that grief go away and then tether a per-

son in what feels like an impossible grip. And while we

pray and hope that the unconditional love of a mother

like Chloe’s will be able to protect a child, it doesn’t always

work. At My Life My Choice, we see girls like Chloe who

are hurting and being taken advantage of everyday.

The men who buy sex — to be clear, the men who rape

children — wield their privilege, power, and access to

things that children want or need. It is their demand that

fuels this industry. It is their demand that shatters lives.

At My Life My Choice, we wish we had had more time

to help Chloe. She left an imprint on our hearts. We ask

that you stand with us, together in her memory, to say

that not one more child should be exploited in this way,

not one more child should be lost in this way. There is no

such thing as other people’s children.

Lisa Goldblatt Grace is cofounder and director of My Life

My Choice.

There was no

‘choice’ for

Chloe Ricard

A

s a Republican senatorial
candidate famously said, it’s
not the Kennedy’s seat.
It’s the people’s seat.
So if Representative
Joseph P. Kennedy III really wants a seat
in the US Senate, he should take his case
directly to the people. That’s what
candidates with other last names do
when they decide to challenge
incumbents in their own party.
Instead, anonymous
sources are putting out
word that Kennedy is
“eyeing” and “weighing” a
primary run against Senator
Edward J. Markey. If that’s
Kennedy code for “get out of
my way,” it’s the wrong
message. Instead of trying
to clear the easiest path to
victory, Kennedy should be
ready to fight for what he
wants, like Shannon Liss
Riordan and Steve
Pemberton, the two
challengers who have
already announced runs
against Markey.
Whatever you think of
Markey — whether, at 73, he’s too old or
has been in Washington too long — this
ploy to get him to drop his reelection bid
also showcases two familiar Kennedy
family traits: ambition propelled by
arrogance. Detecting those qualities in
Robert F. Kennedy’s grandson shouldn’t
be surprising. But it is a little
disconcerting, since Joe Kennedy comes
across as relatively humble. When first
elected, he downplayed the family name,
and said voters would “get me” — not his
grandfather, or his great-uncles, Jack or
Ted Kennedy, and not his father, the
former congressman.
For now, Markey isn’t giving up, and
why should he? Kennedy can run against

Markey, just like Seth Moulton ran

against John Tierney and Ayanna

Pressley ran against Michael Capuano.

Those campaigns ended in victory for

both challengers and new blood in

Congress for Massachusetts. They didn’t

tear the party apart. They energized it

and, especially in Pressley’s case,

brought new voters to the election fray.

But of course, running for an open

seat is less messy and less work.

Since last fall, there was talk that

Kennedy supporters were quietly

suggesting to Markey he should reach

the conclusion that the four-plus

decades he has already spent in

Washington are more than enough. Back

then, there was also speculation that

Moulton was audacious enough to

challenge Markey. To ward off the

vultures, Markey put out early word he

would seek reelection in 2020. He

collected some key endorsements,

including that of Senator Elizabeth

Warren, who put out a video backing his

effort. He also tried to put age and the

contempt that comes with familiarity

behind him by partnering with

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on

the Green New Deal.

Moulton’s profile faded with his failed

bid to derail Nancy Pelosi as speaker of the

House. He’s supposedly running for

president but has yet to crack zero in the

polls. Kennedy, meanwhile, comes across as

smart; but he has struggled to come up with

enough sizzle to match the expectations of

his famous name. When he first went to

Washington, he made a point of trying to

find common ground with

Republicans, by working out

with them and going so far as to

say that Tea Party Republicans

are “people, too.” He has moved

from that to calling for

President Trump’s

impeachment.

But he’s no rebel. He’s close

to Pelosi, and does fund-raising

events with her. Any torch-

passing from Markey to

Kennedy would be mostly about

age, not political mindset. And

if Kennedy drums Markey out of

the Senate race before getting in

himself, it would be a testament

to the merits of pure old-

fashioned political muscle.

“Strategies like ‘clearing the field’ are old-

school, insider tactics that cut against the

current, refreshing trend of clean, hard-

fought grass-roots competition” in

Democratic primaries, said John Walsh, the

former head of the state Democratic party

and a Markey supporter. He urges Kennedy

to “run for reelection as you’ve declared or

challenge for the Senate seat.”

Good advice. If you want to go for it, Joe,

go for it.

Let the people decide who deserves that

seat.

Joan Vennochi can be reached at

[email protected]. Follow her on Twitter

@Joan_Vennochi.

JOAN VENNOCHI

It’s the people’s seat, Joe Kennedy

Mistakes we make as 13-year-olds are

not supposed to be the end of our lives.

Editorial

DAN WASSERMAN

Stoned driving

needs to be taken

more seriously

than it has been

so far.

Chloe Ricard

ILLUSTRATION BY LESLEY BECKER/GLOBE STAFF; ADOBE; GLOBE FILE PHOTO