WALPOLE COPS PUSH FOR NEW POT MEASURE

WALPOLE - Police want the marijuana equivalent of the town's "open
bottle law" that allows them to bust people who drink in public.

This lit pot law would give officers the right, if it is necessary,
to arrest a person smoking pot in public. The idea will go before
Town Meeting on May 4 in the form of a warrant article.

With the new state law decriminalizing possession of small amounts of
marijuana, Bay Staters can now carry up to an ounce of marijuana - or
upwards of a dozen or so marijuana cigarettes (depending on the
potency of the drug) - without facing arrest.

Those caught with less that an ounce of the drug are now punished
with a civil fine of $100.

As it stands right now, a resident could smoke marijuana in public
and police would not have the authority to arrest them as long as
they were carrying under an ounce, according to Police Chief Richard
Stillman.

"It obviously creates a problem for the public in general," Stillman
said, if someone is openly smoking around other people.

If a person is caught drinking alcohol on public property, officers
usually just ask them to pour it out, said Stillman. But, if the
person drinking in public does not comply with officers' commands or
becomes disorderly, he said, police have the right to arrest the
person under the "open-bottle" by law.

Similarly, Stillman said, if the bylaw were to pass Town Meeting,
police would ask the person to get rid of the marijuana and simply
issue the fine.

Stillman stressed all officers would be instructed to use the law
judiciously - only arresting if the person smoking the marijuana is
being uncooperative with police.

"We want to make sure we have the tools to go forward if need be," he
said.

Under the town bylaw request, a person found possessing under an
ounce of marijuana would be fined $100 for their first offense, $200
for their second and $300 for their third and any subsequent offense.

Selectmen are also pushing for an inclusion of a clause that would
automatically make the fine $300 if the person is found in possession
of the pot while driving.

The measure as a whole is "not a big deal change," Stillman told
selectmen during his quarterly review three weeks ago, at least in
Walpole.

"Half the time we came in contact with people with marijuana we
didn't arrest," he said.

During routine traffic stops, Stillman said police used marijuana
possession as a tool to be able to search the driver's car for stolen
goods, guns or more serious drugs.

Police still have that ability, Stillman said, "for
now."

He did say the new state law has the potential of creating a
"personnel nightmare" as police would need to control the public use
of marijuana and set up mandatory drug awareness classes and
community service programs for residents under 18 caught carrying an
ounce of pot or less.

So far, three people have been caught and cited since the new law was
enacted on Jan.1, according to police.

Stillman said those cited under the new law will not have the
incident follow them around on their record, as it is no longer a
criminal offense.