QUESTION RESURRECTS OLD DEBATE

BOSTON - Amherst town meeting member Terence J. Franklin supports a
Nov. 4 ballot question that seeks to decriminalize possession of one
ounce or less of marijuana, saying that use of the illegal drug is
becoming more acceptable.

"It's become more a part of society," said Franklin, an auxiliary
member of the Cannabis Reform Coalition at the University of
Massachusetts-Amherst, last week. "People are more familiar with it.
People are more at ease with it."

But Agawam Police Chief Robert D. Campbell said that he and other
chiefs in Hampden County are against the ballot question. He said
that marijuana is "a gateway drug," causing many users to eventually
turn to harder drugs such as cocaine.

Campbell said that teenagers currently fear arrest, and that use
would increase if the drug was decriminalized.

"Teen drug use is down," he said. "Why would we want to send the
opposite message?"

A yes vote on Question 2 would decriminalize possesssion of up to one
ounce of marijuana, and a no vote would keep the current laws.

Under Question 2 on the statewide ballot, the criminal penalties for
possessing one ounce or less of marijuana would be replaced with a
new system of civil penalties enforced with citations.

If the question is passed by a majority of voters, it would take
effect on Dec. 4, according to the Committee for Sensible Marijuana
Policy, which placed the question on the ballot.

Offenders ages 18 and above would forfeit their marijuana and would
pay a civil penalty of $100. People less than 18 would be hit with
the same $100 penalty and forfeiture if they complete a drug
awareness program that includes 10 hours of community service and at
least four hours of group discussion on preventing drug abuse.

The 11 district attorneys in Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Chiefs
of Police, and the state sheriffs oppose the ballot question.

Hampden District Attorney William M. Bennett said the state has a
sensible marijuana policy.

If a person is charged for the first time with possessing marijuana,
he said, the charge is continued for six months without a finding and
then dismissed if there are no other violations. Bennett said there
is no finding of guilt, and the record is then sealed.

He said the charge would not currently appear on an individual's
criminal offender record information.

"Why does anybody want to change a system that works in terms of
possession of marijuana?" Bennett asked. "The current law works well."

Terrel W. Harris of the state Executive Office of Public Safety
confirmed Bennett's statement. He said that a dismissed charge would
not now appear on an individual's criminal offender record information.

Only certain businesses - schools, camps, nursing homes, home-care
providers, and youth volunteer organizations - may view dismissals
and charges that ended with no convictions.

Potential employers sometimes access criminal offender record
information to determine whether to hire someone. Most employers may
see only convictions or pending cases.

Bennett said that approval of the ballot question would give "a green
light" to youths to use marijuana, and to drug dealers.

Supporters are optimistic that the question will be approved.

"I think it is going to win for multiple reasons," said Whitney A.
Taylor, the campaign manager for the Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy.

According to her, voters in certain Senate and House districts in
Massachusetts approved 30 non-binding ballot questions in 2000-06
that mirror the current statewide question on marijuana.

Voters in the 1st Hampshire District - Hatfield and Northampton -
overwhelmingly approved the non-binding question on marijuana in
2004, agreeing to make possession a civil infraction.

Voters in the 5th Worcester District, which includes part of Ware,
Hardwick and all or parts of nine other communities, also
overwhelmingly approved the non-binding ballot question in 2002.

In Amherst in 2000, voters approved a non-binding referendum by 1,659
to 981 to urge state and national office-holders to repeal the
prohibition of marijuana.

Taylor, who has a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and a
master's degree in public policy from American University in
Washington, said that opponents are using "scare tactics and lies" in
an attempt to defeat the ballot question.

She said that $30 million is spent each year on arresting and booking
people for possessing marijuana.

"That money should stay in police coffers to fight violent and
serious crime," she said.

Eleven states, including Maine and New York, have decriminalized
possession of one ounce or less of marijuana, she noted.

"It's a smart, sensible law that has proven successful in 11 other
states," Taylor said.