WACKY WEED INDEED

Well, the chickens of that 2008 ballot law decriminalizing marijuana
possession have definitely come home to roost.

The Supreme Judicial Court this week ruled that the odor of burnt
marijuana is no longer enough to allow police to order people out of
their car -- not since the people of this commonwealth in their
infinite wisdom voted in favor of Question 2.

The fine fellow in the case before the court -- one Benjamin Cruz --
was also in possession of about 4 grams of crack cocaine, enough to
be charged with intent to distribute (and in a school zone too). But
that evidence was tossed by the trial court judge -- a ruling now
affirmed by the state's highest court.

Writing for the court, Chief Justice Roderick Ireland said, "There
are no facts in the record to support a reasonable suspicion that the
defendant possessed more than one ounce of marijuana. (The amount
decriminalized by the ballot question.) We conclude that, to order a
passenger in a stopped vehicle to exit based merely on suspicion of
an offense, that offense must be criminal. Here, there could be no
suspicion of a criminal offense."

Newly retired Justice Judith Cowin saw it differently. In her dissent
she noted:

"Even though possession of a small amount of marijuana is now no
longer criminal, it may serve as the basis for a reasonable suspicion
that activities involving marijuana, that are indeed criminal, are underway."

And would anyone be at all surprised that the National Organization
for the Reform of Marijuana Laws submitted a "friend of the court"
brief in the case. Yes, the same folks who brought us the ballot
question in the first place.

Remember how it was just supposed to keep those foolish college kids
from having a criminal record and keep police from wasting their time
arresting them? It wasn't supposed to make the world a safer place
for crack dealers. But now it has. And the decent people of the Hyde
Square section of Jamaica Plain, where Mr. Cruz was told to exit the
car, will be paying the price for that.