TEEN POT BILL PASSES

Setting up a conflict with the Romney administration, lawmakers on
Monday, Feb. 13, advanced a longstanding Beacon Hill proposal to
decriminalize the possession of enough marijuana for teens to roll
dozens of joints. Approved 6-1 by the Mental Health and Substance
Abuse Committee, the bill would change the penalty for possessing
marijuana to a $250 civil fine for anyone caught with less than an
ounce of the drug, regardless of age. In addition, parents of those
18 years and younger would be notified of the infraction. Currently,
someone convicted of such an offense can be sent to jail for up to
six months for the crime and pay a $500 fine for a first offense.
According to Lea Palleria Cox of Concerned Citizens for Drug
Prevention Inc. and a bill opponent, an ounce of marijuana equals
roughly 57 joints. The issue has been a source of contention for
years in the Legislature, with the late Sen. Charles Shannon as its
biggest advocate. Lawmakers in the past have included a similar
provision in the budget, only to have it vetoed by former acting Gov.
Jane Swift.

Gov. Mitt Romney is also a likely opponent to the proposal; Lt. Gov.
Kerry Healey has expressed her opposition to proposal, saying it
could treat marijuana lightly under the law, and Romney's spokesman
said lawmakers should remain tough on drugs.

"Governor Romney believes we should enforce the laws against drugs,
and that we be should be careful not to suggest that we are
softening our view on marijuana use," Eric Fehrnstrom, Romney's
director of communications, said in a statement. "It is
important that we continue to send a message to young people that
drugs are bad for you."

But advocates of decriminalization say the 11 other states that have
taken a similar path, including California, New York, and Nebraska,
have seen no negative affects, and point to the results of
non-binding ballot questions in 2000, 2002, and 2004 when 63 percent
of voters supported the initiative in 19 Massachusetts legislative districts.

Being pushed by the Drug Policy Forum of Massachusetts, advocates
cite a 2002 report by Boston University Economist Jeffrey Miron that
estimated marijuana possession arrests and court processing costs
for the state at $24.3 million a year.

Committee Co-Chairwoman Rep. Ruth Balser (D-Newton) said kids who
are caught with marijuana often lose their chance at going to
college because they have a criminal record.

"We don't want to ruin someone's life because of a stupid mistake,"
she said. "We're not saying it's a good thing to use marijuana,"
added Sen. Steven Tolman (D-Brighton), co-chairman of the committee.
"But it could ruin a kid's future." Other opponents agree that
marijuana is a gateway to other drugs and is sending the wrong
message to teenagers.

"This flies in the face of trying to keep young people off drugs,"
said William Breault of the Main South Alliance for Public Safety in
Worcester. "But this is what we have to deal with now with this
liberal state government."