THE MEANING OF THE NEW MARIJUANA LAW

Cambridge - As you may have heard, there is a new marijuana law on the
books. In November, Massachusetts voters overwhelmingly indicated they
wanted to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana. As
you may have heard, this law went into effect on Friday, Jan. 2, 2009. I'd
like to take this opportunity to clarify what the law means and what has
and has not changed.

In a nutshell, this new law means that anyone caught with an ounce or less
of marijuana in their possession will receive a fine of $100. Those under
the age of 18 who are caught with an ounce or less of marijuana, will be
required to pay the $100 fine, as well as attend a drug awareness program,
or receive an additional $900 fine (the total fine then being $1,000) if
they fail to do so within a year. In addition, parents of young people
under 18 who have been cited will receive a copy of the citation, and will
be liable for the fine if the child does not complete the program. The
marijuana is still to be confiscated by the citing official in all cases.
Each violation will result in a $100 fine, regardless of the number of
previous violations.

However, the decriminalization of marijuana does NOT make it legal. It is
still illegal to smoke, possess or otherwise have marijuana. This law
simply changes the way a person is held accountable for the possession of
the substance. The act becomes a civil violation instead of a criminal
one. This also means that there will be no CORI (criminal record) on the
individual due to this infraction.

It is still ILLEGAL to distribute marijuana. Sharing a joint may be
considered distribution (i.e., one person handing marijuana, in the form
of a cigarette, to another person so they can smoke it), and may still be
cited as a criminal act. Selling, trafficking or manufacturing marijuana
is still illegal. Also, possessing more than an ounce of marijuana is
still illegal, and can result in criminal prosecution.

Also very importantly, driving under the influence of marijuana is still
illegal. A person can still be arrested for driving while under the
influence of any substance, including marijuana or alcohol.

This new law also does not affect employers' policies regarding the use or
possession of marijuana. In other words, this law does "not prohibit
workplace discipline that has historically been wholly separate and
distinct from the criminal process," according to the state's Executive
Office of Public Safety and Security, nor does this impact the ways that
schools deal with students who are caught smoking pot or in possession of
pot. Previous policies are still in place, and this new law does not
supersede them, according to the State.

Although the city police are generally going to be the entity that
enforces this law, university police and transit police are also able to
cite residents for the possession of marijuana.

The funds from these citations will, in our case, go to the City of
Cambridge.

Individual municipalities, such as the City of Cambridge, are still able
to pass local laws that would make smoking marijuana in public a crime. In
fact, many communities are considering additional local ordinances and
even state lawmakers have proposed new state-wide laws to discourage the
normalization of marijuana (one lawmaker has proposed a law that would
make it possible for schools and employers to make possession on their
campuses or worksites a crime).

This law doesn't make smoking pot okay. It changes the way we, as a
community, have to deal with marijuana as a substance in our midst. This
does not give young people or parents or anyone else free reign to smoke
pot whenever and wherever they want to. Marijuana is still an illegal
drug, and its use has been linked to many mental illnesses, including an
increased risk of schizophrenia (see http://www.news-medical.net/?id=28108
for more information).

I encourage the adults in our community to consider the messages they may
be sending young people if they blatantly carry a few joints around. A
young person who sees this may think that it is then ok to smoke pot,
which is still a mind-altering drug, and which is still illegal. It is up
to us to ensure that our young people know what this new law means, and
that just because they won't be arrested for having pot in their
possession, doesn't mean that it is okay to walk around with it in their
pocket.