‘WHY WOULD WE TAKE THIS RISK?’
Widow of trooper killed in highway crash makes impassioned plea against legal pot
The widow of a state trooper mowed down by a driver allegedly high on weed is making an impassioned plea to voters in a new gut-wrenching TV ad to reject legalizing pot before more loved ones die on Bay State highways.
“I don’t think we will gain anything from it,” Reisa Clardy says in the video released yesterday. “You’re going to have more families that are going to be without their loved ones because we’re putting more people at risk.
“If it happened to my family, it can happen to anybody’s,” she adds. “Why would we take this risk right now?”
Her husband, Trooper Thomas Clardy, 44, was killed in March on the Mass Pike after a car driven by 30-year-old David Njuguna slammed into the officer’s department-issued SUV in Charlton, police said.
Njuguna was speeding and driving “impaired” after picking up weed at a medical marijuana dispensary in Brookline when his car veered across three lanes striking and killing Clardy, police added. A half-smoked joint was found in Njuguna’s vehicle, police said.
In the video, the mother of six said her husband loved his job and “being able to help others.” She said the crash “changed (her) life greatly,” and questioned how anyone could get behind the wheel while impaired.
“Daddy’s not going to come walking through the door one day,” she says at one point.
Her video comes as lawmakers are promising to take action to protect public safety if Question 4 is passed Nov. 8.
House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Senate President Stanley Rosenberg, as well as Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, said yesterday the state Legislature would likely need to swing into action if the ballot question passes.
“From the regulations to, most importantly, issues like edibles or issues such as operating under the influence, these are things that would have to be worked on,” said DeLeo, who is opposed to legalization.
DeLeo — who’s said he would not hesitate to make immediate changes to the law — added that fleshing out how police will determine if someone is driving high is “one of the major issues that have been raised to us by the police community.”
Both DeLeo and Rosenberg said they’re open to hiking the tax on marijuana sales beyond what’s on the ballot — a new 3.75 percent excise tax on top of the existing 6.25 state sales tax, as well as an additional 2 percent local tax cities and towns can opt to levy.
Rosenberg, who has said he’ll vote to legalize marijuana, said the taxes will have to cover a range of things, from licensing and enforcement to addressing “public health concerns.”
“When all of that is done, I’m not convinced yet that the rate that’s in the proposed law is sufficient to cover all of those expenses,” Rosenberg said.
The Yes on 4 camp pushed back, saying the Cannabis Control Commission the ballot measure would create would collect vital data that should shape legislative action.
“There’s a certain principle that you respect the will of the voters,” said Jim Borghesani, spokesman for the Yes on 4 campaign. “Nobody’s saying the Legislature can’t fine-tune things, can’t improve things. We’re sure they can. But it doesn’t make sense to start doing it right away with no data.”
The ballot measure’s proposed tax of up to 12 percent on weed sales would be far less than taxes in states that have already approved legalization. They run as high as 37 percent in Washington state and 29 percent in Colorado.
Equally pressing is the question of how to update impaired driving laws, or if that is necessary. Question 4 expressly does not amend existing penalties for operating a car while high on marijuana.