As of Dec. 15, possession of marijuana in certain quantities, by certain people, in certain places, is perfectly legal; under certain circumstances. The sometimes counterintuitive conditions Massachusetts residents voted for in passing Question 4 in November are further complicated by the facts that sale of the substance doesn’t become legal for another year, and it remains illegal in the eyes of the federal government and surrounding states.
"It’s a very convoluted issue right now," said Dennis Police Sgt. Cleve Daniels. Confusion among Massachusetts agencies over how to enforce marijuana policy is nothing new, he added. After possession of small amounts of marijuana was decriminalized in 2008, police were told to issue civil citations, but not how to follow up on the tickets, which carried no criminal penalty for nonpayment. "We never really got clarification on how to enforce that," Daniels said.
Although marijuana was decriminalized for people 18 and up, Question 4 legalized it only for those 21 and over, so those unenforceable civil citations remain a dubious tool available to law enforcement. Tickets carrying up to $100 fines can also be issued to people 21 and up in possession, in public, of over an ounce, but under two. In those cases, police can also seize some but not all of the marijuana; only the excess over one ounce, the legally permissible limit in public places.
Past the magic threshold of two ounces, though, marijuana possession reverts to a criminal offense, carrying penalties of up to six months and jail and a $500 fine. That is, unless the marijuana-up to 10 ounces of it-is inside the possessor’s primary residence, in which case it’s not only decriminalized, but outright legal.
You can exceed that 10-ounce limit, provided the excess was grown on the site, and comes from not more than six marijuana plants per person, or 12 per household. A letter from the state’s Executive Office of Public Safety and Security advises law enforcement agencies that such a situation could still be illegal, "if the subject has no apparent grow operation on the premises, or has quantities of fresh marijuana that appear wholly inconsistent with the quantity that could have been produced by the plants on the premises, or if the fresh marijuana is a different strain than the marijuana plants on the premises."
Selling of marijuana for any purpose other than medicinal remains illegal for any individual or commercial entity until January 2018, and anyone hoping to start a small business in the industry after that will have to obtain a license from the newly created Cannabis Control Commission, or face criminal charges carrying penalties of up to two years in jail and between $500 and $5,000. Intent matters in this case, since possession of marijuana in any quantity with intent to distribute remains a crime, in the absence of that CCC license.
The law does allow you to give away up to an ounce of marijuana as a gift. But the letter from the Office of Public Safety notes, "Attempts to evade this safe harbor with delayed or disguised payments, contemporaneous reciprocal ‘gifts’ of money or items of value, or other sham transactions, will remain a criminal act."
Daniels doubts many police departments will find the time or resources to compare strains of homegrown marijuana or judge the authenticity of a birthday gift. Even before Question 4, marijuana was nowhere near the top priority. "We’re not out there looking for marijuana infractions," he said. "We’re not searching people, searching cars, looking to make drug busts for marijuana."
The payoff would have to be big indeed to justify spending man-hours on marijuana at this point. "We’re not going out there starting investigations for street-level marijuana possession," Daniels said. "Unless you’re sitting there with 50 pounds in front of me, which is trafficking."
Police have one major concern when it comes to the new law, and enforceability is central here too. "One of the biggest things for us is going to be the driving under the influence, and how our laws are not equipped to deal with that," Daniels said. While it can be hoped that marijuana users will do so responsibly, he added, time has not proven this to be the case with other legal drugs like alcohol. "We’re worried about our families and loved ones sharing the streets with impaired drivers."
One major difference between operating under the influence of alcohol and marijuana is that you can be penalized for declining to be tested for the former, but not the latter. By the act of obtaining a Massachusetts driver’s license, residents automatically agree that they will take a breathalyzer if called upon to do so.
"There’s no implied consent for driving under the influence of marijuana in Massachusetts," said Daniels. "That’s the big issue." And unlike alcohol, marijuana stays in the system for weeks, complicating attempts to prove the driver was impaired at the time of the stop, rather than a month before.
Yarmouth Deputy Police Chief Steven Xiarhos agreed that impaired driving is the major concern. "Like police departments everywhere, we were officially against the question and felt it would be very bad for Massachusetts and our community," he said. "We are extremely disappointed that it passed and are deeply concerned about the increase in impaired driving and more crashes, injuries, and death. And we are now reviewing the law and all of its complicated sections and training accordingly."
The biggest unknown of all may be one that spans many issues, across the country and beyond, as 2016 gives way to 2017. While the federal government has taken a hands-off approach to local legalization under President Obama, the letter notes, "At this time, it is not yet clear whether the incoming administration will maintain that position, or whether federal enforcement agencies will take a more aggressive stance toward state legalization initiatives."
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker
Full Article: Question 4 Compliance Complicated For Cape Cod Police
Author: Conor Powers-Smith
Contact: 508-255-2121
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: Wicked Local Cape Cod
