DRUG BILL DENOUNCED

Local legislators said Tuesday that a proposal to decriminalize
possession of small amounts of marijuana is an example of out-of-touch
liberalism prevalent at the Statehouse.

The state representatives said there are critical issues such as
health care that are not being addressed, while fringe issues are
being dealt with.

"Here we go down the liberal route again," state Rep. Philip Travis,
D-Rehoboth, said.

The Mental Health and Substance Abuse Committee has voted 6-1 to
recommend passage of a bill that would decriminalize the possession of
less than an ounce of marijuana.

Instead of being a criminal offense, possession would become a civil
violation subject to a fine of $250.

State Rep. Ruth Balser, House chairwoman of the committee, said more
focus needs to be put on preventing drug abuse, rather than jailing
abusers.

"A priority of our committee is to develop programs of prevention,
education and treatment and shift away from an involvement with the
criminal justice system," she told the Associated Press.

State Rep. Betty Poirier, R-North Attleboro, said she is disappointed,
but not shocked by the committee's actions.

"I'm not at all surprised, knowing Ruth Balser as I do. She has a
very, very liberal view," Poirier said.

Poirier said Balser, a psychologist, is "well versed" in mental health
issues, but is wrong on decriminalizing marijuana.

"It sends a terrible message to everyone, especially our youth, to say
marijuana is not a big deal," she said. "Any kind of substance abuse
that is tolerated by our society is going to be the downfall of our
society."

State Rep. John Lepper, R-Attleboro, said he considers alcohol and
marijuana "gateway drugs" that lead to experimenting with more
powerful substances.

"We can't in any way indicate approval of those substances," he
said.

Lepper said he is not in favor of sending kids "to the clink" when
they are caught, but said "if you only give them a slap on the wrist,
they will be right back at it."

Local legislators said what perplexed them most of all is why the bill
is coming up now.

Massachusetts is about to lose more than $300 million in federal
funding because it has failed to deal with health insurance issues.

Bills covering an array of important issues have been lying dormant on
Beacon Hill.

Yet, bills for which there has been no public outcry are coming
forward, the legislators said.

In recent months the Legislature has voted on a bill to give tuition
breaks to illegal immigrants and to force churches to report their
finances, even though there was no public support for them, the
lawmakers said.

"The story of the past year has been all these social issues instead
of the Legislature doing its job," Poirier said. "It's the little,
obscure, side issues that get all the attention."

Lepper said he wonders if the House leadership feels it must vote on
the side issues to give the impression that progress is being made
because it cannot agree on the larger issues.

He also cautioned the public not to assume the bill would pass just
because it has the support of one committee.

While the local Statehouse delegation was critical of the bill,
similar laws have been passed in several states and last year Rhode
Island legalized medical use of marijuana.