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Possession of less than an ounce of marijuana
now draws only a $100 fine in Massachusetts
I'm not sure that law enforcement officials in the Bay State really anticipated that Question 2 was actually going to pass, reducing penalties for simple possession of less than an ounce of marijuana to a $100 fine.
From the Boston Globe:
"This is certainly going to make the work of many police officers a lot more complicated," said Wayne Sampson, executive director of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association. "We're going to need guidance from the attorney general and district attorneys. There are a lot of things to work out."
Well, yes, I suppose so. But decriminalization didn't come out of the blue. The measure was much-anticipated and heavily debated. It ultimately passed with the support of almost two-thirds of voters. A little just-in-case prep work may have been in order.
Instead, we're getting a bit of a frenzy of ... whining. Chief Brian Kyes of the Chelsea Police Department drags his feet with what sounds like an Intro to Police Procedure question. "If it's a civil infraction, not a crime, can police officers search for more evidence? Now that might constitute a bad search, and that definitely will require significant changes."
Well, yes, it might. But there are actually a few items in Massachusetts, possession of which is punishable only by fines, despite the best efforts of the state legislature. If I remember right, pocket knives with blades longer than 2.5 inches fall into this category in Boston. So deciding whether or not a search is permissible after discovery of a decriminalized substance should be a more or less settled matter of law.
And Frank Pasquerello, a spokesman for the Cambridge Police Department, complains, "Now, we're going to have to figure out how much they had, not whether they were carrying it, and that's a lot more difficult."
Well, I sympathize. It would have been better if marijuana were fully legalized, but there you have it. We all have our crosses to bear.
Of course, all institutions are inherently conservative. They don't like to change their ways, and they don't like to approach old challenges from a new direction.
But, in time, I'm sure that Massachusetts police officers can learn to get along without hustling casual pot smokers off to jail.
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Comments
The one article says Mass does not have a law forcing people to show state ID unless driving. So if someone gets caught with 1/2 oz on the street, there is no provision that makes the party id themselves. Well, make a new law! Simple.
NO person should spend even 1 hour in jail for simple possession. Driving under the influence, yes, treat it the same as alcohol. Simple possession should be outright legal nationally.
Sanity in the drug war! I'll bet that everyone who complains used to make money off the arrests. Kind of sick. Al Capone wouldnt like it.
Well in New York City where marijuana is decriminalized police have found a way to drag smokers to jail. They as if you have anything in your pockets (before they "Terry pat"). If you pull out your weed you're carted off for public display/consumption, or such nonsense. You're then charged with a misdemeanor because you were illegally possessing the drug in the open. I think 1oz decrim is a good start, but these cops will eventually find a way to jail the smokers.
There is a very easy way for the cops to handle the issue - don't. There are real crimes being committed in the state of massachusettes. The time and paperwork that is wasted on non-violent drug offenders is pathetic and would go a long way to reducing real crime. Leave people alone. Stop searching them because it is easy. Solve a few murders for a change.
Be the PEACE officers you used to be. Keep the peace. Chill out.
Finally do something as a police officer that the rest of society can be proud to have you do.
You have been given a great gift.
IT IS SO SAD LAW ENFORCEMENT WILL NOW HAVE TO DO THEIR JOB !!!! YOU HAVE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF THE SYSTEM FOR TOO LONG. START PAYING ATTENTION TO ALCOHOL CINDY MCCAIN LOST. YOU TOOK AN OATH TO PROTECT AND SERVE NOT TO JUDGE AND PROSECUTE. ESPECIALLY FOR A PLANT MY GOD ITS NOW THE 21'ST CENTURY GET WITH THE PROGRAM.
With all due respect to the Peace Officers of Mass...
When ALL unsolved rapes, murders and robberies are solved, and you are bored senseless, and with nothing else to do, THEN, and ONLY THEN, why don't you go out and look for a plant that people smoke!
** As 11 other states have managed to deal with the "decriminalization" of marijuana, I assume that Massachusetts will also.
** The irony of the police complaints is their failure to recognize that this will all mean less work and will require less resources, regardless of how you slice it. This will give them more time to work on domestic violence, rapes, murders, and the like.
** As to figuring out how much someone is carrying, it wouldn't seem that it would require a rocket scientist to figure out how much an ounce is. An accurate pocket scale is a bit less complicated to operate than, say, a radar gun. [And is a lot cheaper too.]
** With approval by almost 2/3rds of those voting, it is pretty clear what the citizens of the state want. So, let's go with the flow.
That's some shwaggy weed in the picture
you should go check out the mass cop's web forum. these guys actually discuss ways to illegally search you without getting caught on a forum that can be seen by the public! one way is called an 'inventory'. if you are arrested, they will have your car towed, but take a detailed inventory of your car's contents to "make sure they aren't liable for stolen items"... but really, they are just searching for more stuff to bust you with.
i wish police stopped trying to make money or simply puff up their ego, and actually keep us safe. robbery, assault, stabbing... been the victim of all of em, and the only work the cops did for me was impounding my car after my 3 parking tickets were 2 days late on payment. thanks guys, i feel safer!
it's stupid to even have any fine associated with small possessions !!!!!!!! it's like a tax being added !!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6ZIHbFQAzU
goldieshouse.piczo.com
For once the socialist in MA do something right. Although, it's not as far as the law should go toward legalization, it is certainly a step in the right direction. Law Enforcement is only upset about it because Mary-Jane laws have been a funding boon for them for years. Legalization will mean they have to to less policing with less funds. Imagine though how much more funding the state will get from the 1 oz 'Fee' and the savings from not having to incarcerate and take care of so many non-violent inmates. Let's hope the rest of the states quickly follow suit. It's time to end the was on a God given plant.
Hey Bob how many rapist, murderers and robbers have you ever met. I have met a few and alot of them smoke "Gods Plant" so if you can get them off the street for possession of marijuana then maybe someone will talk instead of worrying that there going to get killed by the murderer for talking. Remeber not all but alot of hardcore criminals also smoke marijuana. Always be carefull what you wish for and stop blaming the police for everything, despite what the uninformed majority think the truth is that the police are watched by the courts more then the criminals are so stop with all the urban legends of illegal searches and seizures by the police and look at the true problems in society, mainly the takers not the givers.
Beer is o.k. The mysterious wacky weed is different somehow? I never quite got that. We do have to draw a line somewhere though. There has to be a difference between hard drugs, and casual drugs. Maybe, base it on long term damage. I don't know, but I do think there are drugs that can destroy one's life in a very short time like meth, that we should all be against. If my kid smoked a little weed, I probably wouldn't be so afraid, but if i found out he was doing meth, I'd be very mad, and do anything to get him off of it! Some of these drugs just lead to death pure and simple, but a little weed, just like a little alchohol now and then within some reason doesn't automatically lead to death in most cases. So either outlaw everything, or quit the frivalous debate over the weed!
Whining? Lack of preperation? What more do you expect from a group that can't even tell the difference between a litebrite or a state highway device and a bomb?
What do you expect from a group that arrests a kid for making terroristic threats... for standing on a milk crate with speaker wires trailing from his hands recreating a very famous photo of US military torture?
Hey DG unlike you I don’t often hang around rapists and murderers but I think its safe to assume that most drink alcohol as well. if we started arresting people for drinking we would get all the bad guys off the street, hell they all eat bread too!
On second thought, how about we just spend a little more on catching the bad one and a little less on those bread eaters!
dg----spare me---lotsa murderers and rapists and congressmen smokes cigs, drink coffee, and breathe air, but those are not the trigger points that set off their lil psychoses---
weed has been given a bad rap by industrialists back in the 30s who found the abundance, cheapness, and easy access to hemp impeded their own products marketability and therefore their bottom line---they then installed their own (our countries first) drug czar, henry anslinger in office to criminalize and propagandize weed--- hence the lil gem reefer madness---- how about you catch up on your history and not believe all the crap your government feeds you? that'd be a GREAT first step...
by the way---these guys arent the first to see how ridiculous the drug war is--- tons of kids sitting in jail for WEED? what a waste...
there is a police organization called LEAP that has also come to realization that there needs to be sanity in the failed drug policy of this country. And these guys are on the front lines...
First of all, that bud in the picture looks horrible, there is much better out there, anyways, the only reason why it was illegal in the first place was because of the paper wars, which is why the worst movie ever, "Reefer Madness" was made, to scare people of it. Making this legal will bring crimes down because the real drug dealers will not have it, thus normal people like me can have a worry free experience with getting the product without worrying that the guy is some gang member trying to steal your money. The only people that do not really want it legal are the drug dealers, growers, and the idiots out there that think that weed is a killer drug or kills brain cells even though there is no evidence of it. The only reason people think it kills brain cells is due to the fact that the government made the test studies on suffocating monkeys with it, burning more than any normal person would smoke in a day, into a gas mask, with little to no oxygen, thus of course, brain damage, from lack of oxygen. You can find out more on these topics and facts on marijuana by watching the documentary called "The Union: The Business Behind Getting High". Learn the facts before making judgments on other people, like you cigarette smokers and alcoholics.
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