Sticky_Budz
04-06-2008, 08:16 AM
WALTHAM — Legislators are fighting the notion that an arrest for possessing a small amount of marijuana should result in a criminal record.
Supporters of the bill range from national marijuana lobbying groups to community organizers from Dorchester, Roxbury and Chelsea. Members of motorcycle groups appeared at a March 18 hearing wearing shirts and ties beneath their leather vests.
Every supporter intoned a similar message: decriminalize marijuana.
Sen. Patricia Jehlen, D-Sommerville, a sponsor of the bill, said public support for the bill is widespread and should not be ignored. In the senator's own district, a referendum on the bill won 66 percent of the vote.
Jehlen became involved with the issue of marijuana decriminalization when she was made aware that a constituent's husband, who was dying of stage-four melanoma, was able to tolerate his treatments through the use of the drug.
She is also concerned about how a minor drug offense can create a criminal record that people must live with their entire lives, possibly costing them jobs and educational scholarships.
"Every time a bill like this has gone to referendum in Massachusetts, it has passed," Jehlen said. "I think the public supports this idea, and the public wants the commonwealth's money to be spent more effectively."
Rep. Martin Walsh, D-Dorchester, blasted decriminalization supporters during his testimony at the recent hearing. While he had not read the current bill itself, he addressed general concerns about how marijuana affects urban neighborhoods like his.
"My community is among those hit hardest by people using drugs," Walsh said. "There is no one sitting in our jails today who has been arrested for an ounce of marijuana. I don't think the bill makes sense, and I don't think it's good policy."
Walsh argued that marijuana is a gateway drug, and that allowing the possession of small amounts of marijuana would be like allowing people to carry a small amount of heroin.
Rep. Ruth Balser, D-Newton, chairwoman of the mental health committee that gave the marijuana bill a favorable review, thinks marijuana is not the biggest concern.
"I think there is some evidence to suggest that the most significant gateway drug for young people is alcohol. Underage alcohol use is illegal, but we would like to make that a civil penalty as well."
Like Jehlen, Balser rejects the notion that small-scale offenders should have criminal records.
"We would like to focus on education, and dealing with drug use through the public health system, not the criminal system," she said.
In 2007, Jeffrey Miron, a professor of economics at Harvard, published a report analyzing the budgetary effects of marijuana decriminalization. Miron estimated an annual savings in law enforcement resources of approximately $29.5 million.
The report also includes data that suggests there has been no measurable increase in marijuana use in states and countries that have already decriminalized it.
Using data from Brockton and Barnstable, Miron said roughly one-third of marijuana possession arrests involve only one charge. These arrests were either for possession alone or for possession that was discovered after an individual had been detained for a civil offense, like a traffic violation.
In 2006, about 2,474 of the 130,219 arrests in the state were for one-charge, marijuana-related offenses.
Miron did not estimate how state revenue would be affected by the use of a $100 civil fine for marijuana possession under one ounce versus current fines, which can go as high as $500. Currently, many offenders do not pay the fine. The possibility of that trend continuing makes any revenue changes difficult to predict.
Revenue aside, Miron thinks the bill is a good idea.
"I support this bill because I think it is bad policy to criminalize marijuana, or any other drug," Miron said. "Anything that moves in this direction is a positive step, although in this case, a small step."
The argument over what is bad policy spurred passionate rebukes from opponents of the bill in the Legislature.
Supporters of the bill range from national marijuana lobbying groups to community organizers from Dorchester, Roxbury and Chelsea. Members of motorcycle groups appeared at a March 18 hearing wearing shirts and ties beneath their leather vests.
Every supporter intoned a similar message: decriminalize marijuana.
Sen. Patricia Jehlen, D-Sommerville, a sponsor of the bill, said public support for the bill is widespread and should not be ignored. In the senator's own district, a referendum on the bill won 66 percent of the vote.
Jehlen became involved with the issue of marijuana decriminalization when she was made aware that a constituent's husband, who was dying of stage-four melanoma, was able to tolerate his treatments through the use of the drug.
She is also concerned about how a minor drug offense can create a criminal record that people must live with their entire lives, possibly costing them jobs and educational scholarships.
"Every time a bill like this has gone to referendum in Massachusetts, it has passed," Jehlen said. "I think the public supports this idea, and the public wants the commonwealth's money to be spent more effectively."
Rep. Martin Walsh, D-Dorchester, blasted decriminalization supporters during his testimony at the recent hearing. While he had not read the current bill itself, he addressed general concerns about how marijuana affects urban neighborhoods like his.
"My community is among those hit hardest by people using drugs," Walsh said. "There is no one sitting in our jails today who has been arrested for an ounce of marijuana. I don't think the bill makes sense, and I don't think it's good policy."
Walsh argued that marijuana is a gateway drug, and that allowing the possession of small amounts of marijuana would be like allowing people to carry a small amount of heroin.
Rep. Ruth Balser, D-Newton, chairwoman of the mental health committee that gave the marijuana bill a favorable review, thinks marijuana is not the biggest concern.
"I think there is some evidence to suggest that the most significant gateway drug for young people is alcohol. Underage alcohol use is illegal, but we would like to make that a civil penalty as well."
Like Jehlen, Balser rejects the notion that small-scale offenders should have criminal records.
"We would like to focus on education, and dealing with drug use through the public health system, not the criminal system," she said.
In 2007, Jeffrey Miron, a professor of economics at Harvard, published a report analyzing the budgetary effects of marijuana decriminalization. Miron estimated an annual savings in law enforcement resources of approximately $29.5 million.
The report also includes data that suggests there has been no measurable increase in marijuana use in states and countries that have already decriminalized it.
Using data from Brockton and Barnstable, Miron said roughly one-third of marijuana possession arrests involve only one charge. These arrests were either for possession alone or for possession that was discovered after an individual had been detained for a civil offense, like a traffic violation.
In 2006, about 2,474 of the 130,219 arrests in the state were for one-charge, marijuana-related offenses.
Miron did not estimate how state revenue would be affected by the use of a $100 civil fine for marijuana possession under one ounce versus current fines, which can go as high as $500. Currently, many offenders do not pay the fine. The possibility of that trend continuing makes any revenue changes difficult to predict.
Revenue aside, Miron thinks the bill is a good idea.
"I support this bill because I think it is bad policy to criminalize marijuana, or any other drug," Miron said. "Anything that moves in this direction is a positive step, although in this case, a small step."
The argument over what is bad policy spurred passionate rebukes from opponents of the bill in the Legislature.