SMOKING HERB NOT NECESSARILY A ROAD TO RUIN

What is it that causes a nation known for its higher-order thinking to
go absolutely schizo every time the subject of marijuana - herb,
ganja, pot, call it what you will - comes up?

The country's far-flung laws on the drug reflect how dysfunctional we
are on the subject.

It is a petty offense and a maximum fine of $100 for possession of
less than an ounce in Colorado. It is a $2,000 fine and up to a year
in jail in New Hampshire for possession of any amount. It is a $5,000
fine and three years in prison for possession in Puerto Rico, one of
our territories.

And of course, in a number of states, including Maine, you can get a
doctor's prescription for a small "useable amount" of marijuana.

Then there are the cynical marijuana tax stamps on the books in about
21 states, including Massachusetts, which require those who possess
marijuana to purchase and place the state-issued stamps on their contraband.

In Massachusetts, the tax rate is $3.50 per gram, if the owner
possesses more than 40 grams. The penalty for nonpayment is 200
percent of the tax up to $10,000, or 5 years in prison, or both.

According to the law, "Dealers shall not be required to give their
name, address, Social Security number or other identifying information
to the collector of the tax.

The law further states, "Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to
provide immunity for a dealer from criminal prosecution pursuant to
Massachusetts law."

Essentially, this means that if you comply with the law, you will
probably get a fine and jail time.

Of course, if you don't comply and you ever get arrested on a drug
violation charge, you will probably be charged with tax evasion.

Given this state of affairs, it is no wonder Bill Clinton could tell
us with a straight face that he once took a puff on a joint, but that
he didn't inhale.

Yet, Bill's patent disingenuousness pales in comparison with some of
what we have been hearing from some of Massachusetts' finest over the
state's new marijuana law.

Instead of being dragged into court for possession of less than an
ounce, the law mandates that the offender be cited, fined and steered
into a drug program.

This sounds simple enough, but not for some police officers, it would
appear.

After years of being the foot soldiers in the war against drugs, often
interacting with big-time drug dealers and their lieutenants, some
police officers now say they have a problem figuring out what an ounce
of marijuana looks like.

They are having trouble, they say, getting the necessary information
to fill out the citations. They don't have the proper citation books.
They are afraid the new law will corrupt them.

"An officer in uniform, in a cruiser, can smoke a joint under this
law," John M. Collins, legal counsel to the Massachusetts Chiefs of
Police Association, proclaimed in an interview with one of our
reporters recently.

Part of the problem here, I suspect, is the fear - pushed by many
"experts" - that any reasoned discussion of marijuana use is by
default a road to anarchy, mayhem and the disintegration of society.

These alarmists persist in their doomsday predicament despite the fact
that the most notable, widespread experimentation with marijuana by
young people in the country's history suggests an entirely different
outcome.

The record shows that these wayward young people went about wearing
flowers in their hair, flashing peace signs, loving everybody, and
questioning the sanity of the powers-that-be.

We could do with some of those wayward flower children today, given
our current docility - massing like lambs to the slaughter on the
altar of Wall Street and maintaining our steely silence on the wanton
killing of women and children in the Middle East.

But I digress.

The simple truth is that the misuse or abuse of anything - marijuana,
power - whether from stupidity or from the wanton disregard for the
welfare of one's self or that of others, is the deadly sin here.