STONERS WRESTLE WITH PARANOIA

This is in response to the article "Stoners Find Almost $25 Million: Offer
It to Romney" (#5.09).

Have you considered how much decriminalization will cost?

With a reduction in asset forfeiture (if it applies to your state) and the
possibility of the federal government cutting funds, this $25 million can
disappear if the state government is not careful. This is one reason why
state governments often fight decrim and legalization, though they will
never publicly say it.

Mark Lehrer

Salt Lake City, Utah

Ed. note: Under Massachusetts State Law: "No conveyance or real property
used to facilitate the unlawful manufacturing, dispensing or distribution
of, or the possession with intent unlawfully to manufacture, dispense, or
distribute marihuana or a substance, not itself a controlled substance,
containing any marihuana shall be forfeited if the net weight of the
substance so manufactured, dispensed, or distributed or possessed with
intent to manufacture, dispense or distribute, is less than 10 pounds in
the aggregate."

Lawyers from both the Massachusetts chapter of NORML and the Drug Policy
Forum of Massachusetts claim they know of no case in which the Commonwealth
of Massachusetts has derived any income from property forfeited by
individuals charged with personal possession of marijuana, the only crime
that proposed decriminalization legislation would effect.