The media has had a lot of fun with Tuesday’s decisive vote to legalize — ok, not really — marijuana in the city of Portland.

"Reeferendum," a teaser used by one of the local television stations, is one of my personal favorites. But No. 1 on the list? This photo, taken by BDN photographer Troy Bennett, of former state representative and Green Party activist John Eder lighting up a-ah- . . . honestly, what do you call a joint the size of a small child’s forearm? I don’t know, but there it is:

The photo of Eder seems to fly in the face of the message advanced by supporters of the referendum who put forward professional people as responsible users. Those people do exist, to be sure. You just can’t seem them amid Eder’s purple haze and a spliff that could blot out the sun. Reporter Randy Billings told me that legalization advocates were disappointed that some supporters decided to partake in the victory session. 

But speaking of smoke, Eder doesn’t like it. That’s what he told lawmakers earlier this year when he testified on behalf of L.D. 468, a bill that would have banned smoking — tobacco presumably — on Maine college campuses. 

". . . Did you know that even very brief exposure (to second hand smoke) can immediately exacerbate numerous negative health effects such as allergies, headaches, respiratory infections and asthma?" Eder’s testimony read. 

He added, "If you think about it, smoking has no rightful place on a college campus, an institution of higher learning and science."

Remember that. And this:

 

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