DA LEONE TO TREAT MARIJUANA CASES SAME TILL LAW TAKES EFFECT

WOBURN -- While the district attorney in Springfield has vowed to drop
all pending charges of possessing an ounce or less of marijuana in the
wake of the passage of Question 2 on Tuesday, Middlesex District
Attorney Gerry Leone said he will make such decisions
individually.

"Until the new law is implemented, we will evaluate each pending
matter on a case-by-case basis,'' Leone said yesterday.

"In general, as was the case prior to this new law, the presumption
will be that defendants charged with mere possession of marijuana
without any other criminal charges or prior record are to have their
case continued without a finding or resolved with pretrial
probation,'' he said. Hampden District Attorney William Bennett
announced Wednesday that he wants to honor the spirit of the ballot
initiative, which makes possession of an ounce or less of marijuana
punishable with a civil fine of $100. The law will take effect in
late December or early January, officials said. "I'm going to act as
if the law were in effect now," Bennett told The Republican in
Springfield.

Bennett campaigned against the ballot question and said he hopes the
results don't send the wrong message.

Bennett said he doesn't know how many pending marijuana-possession
charges would be dismissed, but said he doesn't think it would be
significant. In the future, he said, he wants to focus on arresting
drug dealers. Bennett said that because of the strong support of the
question, he won't support any effort to repeal or amend the law.
Prosecutors or police might eventually ask the state Legislature to
alter the pending ballot law. Bennett said he also plans to end a
program in his office that provides counseling for first-time drug
offenders. The so-called diversion program includes many marijuana
cases.

But Leone is taking a more cautious approach.
"As the attorney general stated yesterday, the new ballot proposition will
become law 30 days after the results are presented to the Governor's
Council,
likely in late November or December," Leone said. "Until that time, the
existing marijuana-possession laws remain in effect."