PROBLEMS WITH POT EXPECTED

Taunton Police Chief Worries Over More Marijuana Consumption

TAUNTON - The city's top cop says he doesn't want to see the Silver
City go to pot.

"I see big problems," Taunton Police Chief Raymond O'Berg said, when
asked to comment on the repercussions of a new state law that took
effect Thursday - decriminalizing possession of less than an ounce of
marijuana to that of a simple civil offense.

O'Berg believes the passage of ballot Question 2 by voters in November
- - which stipulates that police issue a $100 fine in lieu of making an
arrest - will only encourage public consumption of the Class D drug
and contribute to a general sense of lawlessness.

He's also convinced that an increase in smoking pot and driving will
lead to a spike in accidents and road deaths. The new law, though,
does not repeal existing laws prohibiting driving while under the
influence of a drug.

But according to the state Executive Office of Public Safety and
Security there is some wiggle room for cities and towns to take a
tougher stance against people caught with less than an ounce of cannabis.

The EOPSS said municipalities can pass their own ordinances
prohibiting the smoking of grass, hash or hash oil in public,
specifically allowing them "to provide for additional penalties" for
those who do so.

As a matter of fact, the EOPSS has gone on the record encouraging
municipalities to adopt such by-laws that would "provide police with
the option of treating public use [of marijuana] as a misdemeanor
[criminal] offense."

That's exactly what O'Berg had in mind two weeks ago, when he
submitted a letter to the City Council urging the city to pass an
ordinance that would a) increase fines from $100 to $300 and b) allow
police to arrest anyone caught smoking marijuana in either a public
area or public building.

"I'd like to at least see it treated the same as drinking in public,"
O'Berg said Saturday, adding that "We can't afford to look the other
way."

Issuing tickets won't be a problem. The chief said his officers
already have plenty of 21D citation books at their disposal.

But the logistics of determining whether someone has less than an
ounce of contraband will require the use of one of two electronic
scales within the department- one of which is kept in the booking room
and the other in the patrol car of the sergeant in charge during the
shift, he said.

Mayor Charles Crowley noted the absurdity of the image of officers on
patrol having to tote around a scale. "It's difficult enough for our
police to do their jobs," Crowley said.

But the mayor withheld comment on the merits of O'Berg's
recommendations other than to say that he will "discuss the options
with the chief."

What he said he is certain of is that decriminalizing marijuana laws
creates "a gray area" with which the legal system will have to
contend. "Now it's not clear if [possessing marijuana] is legal or
not," Crowley said.

O'Berg is not alone in pressing for tougher enforcement penalties:
Other police chiefs have stated that they too will propose ordinances
to counter the law as it now stands.

Not all local officials have been as reticent as Crowley in expressing
their view on the subject.

In September, during a press conference held on the steps of New
Bedford Superior Court, Fall River Mayor Robert Correia bemoaned the
impact the new law might have.

"Just think of the message this would send to every single middle and
high school student," Correia was quoted in The Standard Times.

Also on hand that day were police chiefs, prosecutors and Bristol
County District Attorney Samuel Sutter. Taunton attorney and state
Rep. James Fagan, D-Taunton, said he understood O'Berg's concern, but
regarded the chief's overture to increase fines as
"over-reaching."

The bottom line, Fagan stressed, is that 65 percent of Bay State
voters threw their support behind Question 2. But one police source
said that not being able to arrest an individual for possessing under
an ounce shortchanges cops a tool for at least temporarily getting
"some little gang-banger off the street."

A 25-year-old man eating breakfast in Off Broadway Diner on Sunday,
who would only identify himself as Todd, said he supports Chief
O'Berg's tough stance.

"I know how fast $100 comes to a drug dealer," he said, suggesting
that perhaps the $300 fine could be imposed after a first offense of
$100.