OFFICIALS LOOK FOR GUIDELINES ON MARIJUANA INITIATIVE

How will a police officer know whether someone is carrying more than
an ounce of marijuana?

Will those caught smoking it present sufficient probable cause for an
officer to search them or their car?

How will officers cite people for possessing small amounts of
marijuana, and will there be an appeals process?

A day after voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot initiative to
decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, law
enforcement officials around the state wondered how they would
implement the new law and how it would change their work.

"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."

The passage of Question 2 will make getting caught with less than an
ounce of pot punishable by a civil fine of $100. It also means the
offense will no longer be reported to the state's criminal history
board. The law will require those younger than 18 to complete a drug
awareness program and community service, and for those who don't, the
fine will increase to as much as $1,000.

In a statement yesterday, Attorney General Martha Coakley said the
proposition will become law 30 days after the secretary of state
presents the official results to the Governor's Council, which usually
meets in late November or early December. Until that time, existing
law remains in effect.

State officials are going to discuss how to implement the law with "a
parallel civil regulatory structure," she said. "We are reviewing all
of the implications of the new law and whether further clarification
or guidance is needed."

Lawmakers could also seek to amend or repeal the new law, but that
does not appear likely, given that 65 percent of voters approved the
proposition.

"The voters have voted," Governor Deval Patrick said at a press
conference. He directed Public Safety and Security Secretary Kevin
Burke "to confer with the attorney general and district attorneys on
what the implications are for implementation."

Afterward, Joe Landolfi, a spokesman for Patrick, said there are no
plans to try to repeal the law. Spokesmen for Senate President Therese
Murray and House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi added that they have not
heard of any effort to block the initiative from becoming law.

But police and prosecutors - most of whom opposed the proposition
because, they contended, it would send the wrong message and boost
crime - said they will have to reexamine a range of standard operating
procedures.

Chief Brian Kyes of the Chelsea Police Department worries about what
will constitute probable cause for searching someone found with
marijuana. "If it's a civil infraction, not a crime, can police
officers search for more evidence?" Kyes asked. "Now that might
constitute a bad search, and that definitely will require significant
changes."

Chief Frederick Ryan of the Arlington Police Department worried that
it will be harder to arrest drug dealers, because people caught with
small amounts of marijuana might not act as informants. "Now, one of
our tools in our tool chest to identify drug traffickers has been
taken away."

Frank Pasquerello, a spokesman for the Cambridge Police Department,
wondered whether officers will have to carry scales.

"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."

He also wondered whether there would be increased penalties for those
caught repeatedly with marijuana, as happens for those violating
speeding laws. "If someone is stopped six times, does it then become
arrestable?" Pasquerello said. "There are a lot of questions for everyone."

Michael O'Keefe, district attorney for the Cape and Islands, said he
and other law enforcement officials plan to discuss many of the issues
at a meeting tomorrow. He said the state must create a way to collect
fines and enforce the collection. It also will need a new system for
counseling and community service.

"For motor vehicle offenses, we have a Registry of Motor Vehicles. . .
. Are we going to have a Registry of Marijuana Smokers?" he asked.

One of the concerns of opponents was what they described as the
increased potency of the drug. "I remain very concerned about the
effects of this on kids," O'Keefe said.

Edward F. Davis - Boston's police commissioner, who also opposed the
initiative - said the law should not be harder to enforce than others
on the books.

While he remains concerned that more people will drive under the
influence, he said the new law "won't drastically affect how we do
business."

He pointed out that fines issued to those caught with the drug at the
city's annual HempFest would be doubled under the new law. And he said
his officers rarely turned those arrested for possession into
informants and routinely made judgments about weight without a scale.

"I'm disappointed that it went through . . . but I don't think the sky
is falling by any stretch of the imagination," Davis said.