Jan 2, 2009 7:12 am US/Eastern
New Pot Law In Effect In Massachusetts
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
-
-
The larger bag at right contains an ounce of marijuana. The smaller bags depict the same amount - an ounce - broken up into smaller amounts, typical of how the drug would be packaged for individual sales.
Boston Police Department
Possession of less than one ounce of marijuana in Massachusetts is now a civil offense instead of a criminal one.
The new law went into effect Friday.
Read: Details of the new law
Violators now face a $100 fine.
It's not something that's sitting well with local police chiefs.
"I think given the way the fine structures are set up now there's absolutely no incentive for people not to carry less than an ounce of marijuana," Auburn police Chief Andrew Sluckis told WBZ. "And there's little incentive for police to enforce the law."
Sluckis and other chiefs said there's no mechanism in the law to make violators identify themselves and there's no way to force people to pay the fine.
When it comes to issuing the citation, Sluckis and others said the form doesn't exist.
Sluckis said officers won't be able to write a ticket to those in violation of the new pot law.
"Nor am I planning to get the ability to do that," he said.
Public Safety and Security Secretary Kevin Burke said the state is recommending communities pass their own ordinances against public pot smoking.
Juveniles caught with under an ounce are supposed to undergo drug education.
But Burke said that there currently isn't a program to refer people to.
He says a variety of state agencies are working to develop that program, which is required by the new law. But there is little money and no timetable for the program.
View: A state-by-state map of marijuana laws
Massachusetts is the 13th state to decriminalize small quantities of marijuana.
The ballot measure was passed with the approval of 65 percent of voters.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Comments