COMPLAINTS AGAINST MASSACHUSETTS MARIJUANA LAW UNFOUNDED

In your view that "Rhode Island can learn from Mass. pot laws" you
assert that any Rhode Island decriminalization legislation must
address three supposed defects in Massachusetts' law. These defects
only exist in the minds of law enforcement who, having lost the power
to handcuff people for possessing marijuana, continue to wage a
campaign against the new law.

Although Massachusetts' law does "not require offenders to correctly
identify themselves or show identification," as a practical matter
this does not prevent police from enforcing the law, as most
possession offenders are captured - as before passage of the
initiative - because they committed another crime for which they may
still be handcuffed and are required to correctly identify themselves.
Furthermore, those who would remain silent or give a false name are
very rare, as the natural response when asked by a man with a badge
and gun your name and address is to provide it. The claim the law does
not "provide a way to force them to pay the fines" is false. The
offense being a civil matter a small claim's complaint is the
collection mechanism.

Massachusetts led the way to independence in 1775. In 1911, it lead
the way to demonizing cannabis. In 2008, it joined Maine as the only
other New England state to decriminalize. With the Massachusetts
legislature facing a two billion dollar budget deficit, and the nation
a multi trillion-dollar debt, it is time to recognize that
Massachusetts and the Union cannot afford to prohibit commerce in
cannabis by adults and finally cure the "reefer madness"

After all, we are writing about the same plant, which in 1763, writing
under the nom de plume Humphrey Ploughjogger, John Adams wrote, "We
shall by and by want a world of hemp more for our own
consumption."

Steven S. Epstein, Esq.