Marijuana Decriminilazation in MAssachusetts

[doodlebugg 10]

smoke 'em if ya got 'em!

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_...na_decri_1.html

Marijuana decriminalization law goes into effect

January 2, 2009 08:00 AM Email| Comments (82)| Text size – + By Globe Staff

It's no longer a crime to have one ounce or less of pot. The state's new marijuana decriminalization law, approved by voters in a November referendum, goes into effect today.

Those who are caught with an ounce or less would get a ticket similar to a building code citation. They could appeal the civil infraction in court within 21 days or pay a $100 fine set in the law. Juvenile violators would have to pay the fine and attend a drug abuse counseling course, or have the fine increased to $1,000.

The state Executive Office of Public Safety and Security released guidelines Monday in response to questions about the law. The state noted that the new statute applied to all substances that contain THC, which includes hashish and hash oil. THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, is the active ingredient in marijuana that gives users a high.

The state also asked communities to consider passing local ordinances criminalizing the use of marijuana in public, which today is only a civil offense if the smoker possesses an ounce or less.

some of the comments online to the article are freakin' hysterical!

[peejay 327]

The state also asked communities to consider passing local ordinances criminalizing the use of marijuana in public, which today is only a civil offense if the smoker possesses an ounce or less.

Maybe these idiots should have thought about that before they let the cows loose out of the fence.

And while they are at it they might want to pass some laws against driving down the highway puffing on a bong too.

[alienlovechild 75]

Those who are caught with an ounce or less would get a ticket similar to a building code citation. They could appeal the civil infraction in court within 21 days or pay a $100 fine set in the law. Juvenile violators would have to pay the fine and attend a drug abuse counseling course, or have the fine increased to $1,000

That's very generous. It's getting to the point in some states where you'd face higher penalities for smoking tobacco in the wrong place than for smoking weed.

[spookyturtle 9,465]

What gets me is decriminalizing possesion of an illegal substance. It still gets here thru illegal channels and people are getting murdered over it everyday. Why not legalize it, regulate it and tax it,. just like ciggarettes, alcohol and prescription drugs? That makes more sense to me than all of the crime and death involved in the illicit drug trade.

[Ling Ling 22]

What gets me is decriminalizing possesion of an illegal substance. It still gets here thru illegal channels and people are getting murdered over it everyday. Why not legalize it, regulate it and tax it,. just like ciggarettes, alcohol and prescription drugs? That makes more sense to me than all of the crime and death involved in the illicit drug trade.

It's because the SYSTEM makes a lot of money from arresting, prosecuting, and incarcerating drug offenders.

As long as that profit trail appears good to someone, the war on drugs will continue.

Funny, they always call Marijuana the "gateway drug". I assure you that people have used cigarettes and alcohol before going onto heavy drugs.

Probably quite a few crack, cocaine, and heroin addicts that have used cigarettes and alcohol, but NOT marijuana.

Penn & Teller did a pretty good show on marijuana (figuratively, not literally).

[spookyturtle 9,465]

What gets me is decriminalizing possesion of an illegal substance. It still gets here thru illegal channels and people are getting murdered over it everyday. Why not legalize it, regulate it and tax it,. just like ciggarettes, alcohol and prescription drugs? That makes more sense to me than all of the crime and death involved in the illicit drug trade.

It's because the SYSTEM makes a lot of money from arresting, prosecuting, and incarcerating drug offenders.

As long as that profit trail appears good to someone, the war on drugs will continue.

Funny, they always call Marijuana the "gateway drug". I assure you that people have used cigarettes and alcohol before going onto heavy drugs.

Probably quite a few crack, cocaine, and heroin addicts that have used cigarettes and alcohol, but NOT marijuana.

Penn & Teller did a pretty good show on marijuana (figuratively, not literally).

MA passed the decriminalizing law so that it would cut down on arrests, prosecuting etc. It is supposed to free up resources to combat more serious issues.

[Amby 490]

so I can go smoke a fatty?

[DeadPoolX 9]

What gets me is decriminalizing possesion of an illegal substance. It still gets here thru illegal channels and people are getting murdered over it everyday. Why not legalize it, regulate it and tax it,. just like ciggarettes, alcohol and prescription drugs? That makes more sense to me than all of the crime and death involved in the illicit drug trade.

It's because the SYSTEM makes a lot of money from arresting, prosecuting, and incarcerating drug offenders.

As long as that profit trail appears good to someone, the war on drugs will continue.

Funny, they always call Marijuana the "gateway drug". I assure you that people have used cigarettes and alcohol before going onto heavy drugs.

Probably quite a few crack, cocaine, and heroin addicts that have used cigarettes and alcohol, but NOT marijuana.

Penn & Teller did a pretty good show on marijuana (figuratively, not literally).

But couldn't the system make more money by legalizing marijuana and controlling it, like cigarettes and alcohol? If they could levy taxes on the drug, the government could make a whole lot from it and actually use the revenue for other programs (such as education, public works, etc). I happen to feel the same way about prostitution, as well. If that were legalized, there would be taxes on it and money gained. In addition, the health of prostitutes would probably improve, thereby reducing the risk of STD infection.

[alienlovechild 75]

What gets me is decriminalizing possesion of an illegal substance. It still gets here thru illegal channels and people are getting murdered over it everyday. Why not legalize it, regulate it and tax it,. just like ciggarettes, alcohol and prescription drugs? That makes more sense to me than all of the crime and death involved in the illicit drug trade.

It's because the SYSTEM makes a lot of money from arresting, prosecuting, and incarcerating drug offenders.

As long as that profit trail appears good to someone, the war on drugs will continue.

Funny, they always call Marijuana the "gateway drug". I assure you that people have used cigarettes and alcohol before going onto heavy drugs.

Probably quite a few crack, cocaine, and heroin addicts that have used cigarettes and alcohol, but NOT marijuana.

Penn & Teller did a pretty good show on marijuana (figuratively, not literally).

But couldn't the system make more money by legalizing marijuana and controlling it, like cigarettes and alcohol? If they could levy taxes on the drug, the government could make a whole lot from it and actually use the revenue for other programs (such as education, public works, etc). I happen to feel the same way about prostitution, as well. If that were legalized, there would be taxes on it and money gained. In addition, the health of prostitutes would probably improve, thereby reducing the risk of STD infection.

Money isn't the main issue as legalizing illegal drugs and hookers would bring big bucks for taxes. Gambling used to be outlawed because was seen as immoral and having a lot of bad effects. Now there's lots of places to gamble or at least play lotto. Drugs, by comparison, have a bad reputation because you don't want your kid to smoke or snort what you did when you were young and there's still a big stigma against drug abusers. Most of marijuana smokers I've known have jobs or students and are law abiding except when it comes to smoking pot.

Edited January 2, 2009 by alienlovechild

[Ling Ling 22]

What gets me is decriminalizing possesion of an illegal substance. It still gets here thru illegal channels and people are getting murdered over it everyday. Why not legalize it, regulate it and tax it,. just like ciggarettes, alcohol and prescription drugs? That makes more sense to me than all of the crime and death involved in the illicit drug trade.

It's because the SYSTEM makes a lot of money from arresting, prosecuting, and incarcerating drug offenders.

As long as that profit trail appears good to someone, the war on drugs will continue.

Funny, they always call Marijuana the "gateway drug". I assure you that people have used cigarettes and alcohol before going onto heavy drugs.

Probably quite a few crack, cocaine, and heroin addicts that have used cigarettes and alcohol, but NOT marijuana.

Penn & Teller did a pretty good show on marijuana (figuratively, not literally).

MA passed the decriminalizing law so that it would cut down on arrests, prosecuting etc. It is supposed to free up resources to combat more serious issues.

I understood that. I was just speaking to some reasons why it won't be legalized, per your question.

Also, it's just been made a "quasi-crime", such as illegally parking. They may find that since they can now give a simple ticket for the offense (rather than decide if it's worth arresting someone for a single joint) there's a possibility of increased revenue. You're in MA right? Please keep us informed.

[peejay 327]

Look at the grand experiment in Amsterdam. I recently read the Dutch were trying to clean up that mess. Dope and whores seem to attract a certain element. And not people you want living in your neighborhood and hanging around your kid's school. Just because people are going to do this ####### is no reason to embrace it. If we just acquiesce to any activity that enough people want to buy into, why not just excuse public nudity, kiddy porn, beastiality, etc. Yeah...groovy...if it feels good, do it.

For anyone that thinks that prostitution and dope are victimless crimes, we only have to look at worldwide trafficking in sex slaves and the narco fueled violence in Mexico.

Personally I could care less if someone wants to grow a small amount of weed for personal consumption, but people that buy weed smuggled into the USA from Mexico are enabling the murder and violence going on there for their own selfish cheap thrills. Some people worry more about where and how their frigging coffee is grown than about whether their little hip dope habit is drenched in blood.

Edited January 2, 2009 by peejay

[doodlebugg 10]

Look at the grand experiment in Amsterdam. I recently read the Dutch were trying to clean up that mess. Dope and whores seem to attract a certain element. And not people you want living in your neighborhood and hanging around your kid's school. Just because people are going to do this ####### is no reason to embrace it. If we just acquiesce to any activity that enough people want to buy into, why not just excuse public nudity, kiddy porn, beastiality, etc. Yeah...groovy...if it feels good, do it.

For anyone that thinks that prostitution and dope are victimless crimes, we only have to look at worldwide trafficking in sex slaves and the narco fueled violence in Mexico.

Personally I could care less if someone wants to grow a small amount of weed for personal consumption, but people that buy weed smuggled into the USA from Mexico are enabling the murder and violence going on there for their own selfish cheap thrills. Some people worry more about where and how their frigging coffee is grown than about whether their little hip dope habit is drenched in blood.

So basically always buy organically and locally grown, just like you would your fruits and veggies!

[peejay 327]

Look at the grand experiment in Amsterdam. I recently read the Dutch were trying to clean up that mess. Dope and whores seem to attract a certain element. And not people you want living in your neighborhood and hanging around your kid's school. Just because people are going to do this ####### is no reason to embrace it. If we just acquiesce to any activity that enough people want to buy into, why not just excuse public nudity, kiddy porn, beastiality, etc. Yeah...groovy...if it feels good, do it.

For anyone that thinks that prostitution and dope are victimless crimes, we only have to look at worldwide trafficking in sex slaves and the narco fueled violence in Mexico.

Personally I could care less if someone wants to grow a small amount of weed for personal consumption, but people that buy weed smuggled into the USA from Mexico are enabling the murder and violence going on there for their own selfish cheap thrills. Some people worry more about where and how their frigging coffee is grown than about whether their little hip dope habit is drenched in blood.

So basically always buy organically and locally grown, just like you would your fruits and veggies!

Yeah...like you really know where the dope you buy on the street corner comes from.

[Ling Ling 22]

Look at the grand experiment in Amsterdam. I recently read the Dutch were trying to clean up that mess. Dope and whores seem to attract a certain element. And not people you want living in your neighborhood and hanging around your kid's school. Just because people are going to do this ####### is no reason to embrace it. If we just acquiesce to any activity that enough people want to buy into, why not just excuse public nudity, kiddy porn, beastiality, etc. Yeah...groovy...if it feels good, do it.

For anyone that thinks that prostitution and dope are victimless crimes, we only have to look at worldwide trafficking in sex slaves and the narco fueled violence in Mexico.

Personally I could care less if someone wants to grow a small amount of weed for personal consumption, but people that buy weed smuggled into the USA from Mexico are enabling the murder and violence going on there for their own selfish cheap thrills. Some people worry more about where and how their frigging coffee is grown than about whether their little hip dope habit is drenched in blood.

Since you bring up Amsterdam. I was there recently, and it was about as civilized as a Disney resort. Maybe more so because there weren't a lot of kids running into you. In Dutch law, there are soft drugs (like marijuana and mushrooms) and there are hard drugs (like X, heroin, cocaine, etc). Soft drugs, while legal are still regulated, the same as cigarettes and alcohol are in the US. Hard drugs are NOT legal.

Drugs and prostitution are NOT victimless crimes, but when decriminalized produce no more victims than do alcohol or other legal drugs.

There was a time when alcohol was illegal, and there was much more violent crime associated with it, and many more victims.

We didn't learn much from that.

[SpiritAlight 1]

so I can go smoke a fatty?

You're always welcome in Vancouver...oh and Montreal, too for that matter (although it is never a good idea to smoke blatantly in front of authority). Ha!

I think this is a good start for MA.

Truly the effects of alcohol are far greater than pot.

Smoking or ingesting weed gives people the munchies and they buy food...get all mellow and lovey-dovey. Hee, hee.

Drinking (a lot) makes people violent, killers behind the wheel, and kills their liver as well as brain cells.

And do we need to be reminded about hang-overs, if one has over-indulged?

Bah!

Eating pot cookies, helps with pains and other ailments, too.

Seriously what would you choose:

mellow or violent?

I am awaiting the day that the "pee test" is abolished and that perhaps people could be tested to see if they are alcoholics....even mild ones.

Yup, that would be good.

Is it 4:20 yet?

So basically always buy organically and locally grown, just like you would your fruits and veggies!

Or...grow your own!