STONERS FIND ALMOST $25 MILLION OFFER IT TO ROMNEY

You might be surprised to find out that, at this moment, five bills
regarding the decriminalization of marijuana sit in committee before the
Massachusetts legislature. Enforcing current state prohibitions on
marijuana costs Massachusetts nearly $25 million a year, according to
MassCann, a statewide organization committed to decriminalizing marijuana.

Unfortunately, despite support from law enforcement, legislators, and
academic research, the state's current budget crisis and positive outcomes
in other states that have decriminalized pot, no one in either the
legislature or MassCann, the organization that proposed the bills, thinks
decriminalization stands much chance of passing.

Steven Epstein, co-founder and treasurer of MassCann wrote the bills,
S.1119 and S.207 in the Senate, and H.1061, H.1062 and H.2392 in the House.
While the bills differ in regards to specifics, they universally declare
that possession of less than one ounce of marijuana be punishable by a
civil fine and nothing more. In S.1119, H.1061 and H.1062, the fine would
be not more than $500 and not less than $100 for the first offense, and not
more than $1,000 nor less than $200 for the second.

S.207 and its house partner, H.2392, go a step farther in that they prevent
the police from having the power to arrest anyone possessing less than an
ounce of marijuana.

H.1062 varies only slightly from H.1061 in that it provides specific
direction for the disposition of collected fines.

There are also two bills pending regarding the use of Medical Marijuana,
S.676 and a House partner, yet to be numbered.

While bills have been proposed in the past, there has never been as much
positive support and momentum for the subject in the statehouse. With the
state budget crisis looming, many of the bills' supporters in the
legislature call on fiscal needs for the passage of the bill. Senator
Cynthia Creem's (D-Newton, a co-sponsor of S.207) Chief-of-Staff, Mark
Fine, explained, "The cost of our current policy is bad in fiscal terms, as
well as in diverting resources from stopping the real criminals who are
threats to public safety." Fine clarified that the senator, "does not
condone marijuana use, only that our resources need to be better allocated
for stopping violent crime." Senator Steven Tolman (D-Brighton), another
co-sponsor of S.207 agreed. "It' s a question of resources and priorities,
and [Sen. Tolman] feels that there' s not enough resources for crime
prevention and not a high enough priority to waste money on the matter,"
said Matt Irish, Tolman's Chief-of-Staff