Walpole's police chief tried to get ahead of the curve in enforcing the state's new marijuana law, but now is back at square one.
Last month, Chief Richard Stillman filed a request for spring Town Meeting to approve a bylaw that would allow police to arrest people who smoke marijuana in public and become disorderly or resist confiscation.
The town was among the first in the Commonwealth to file for the bylaw, considered the marijuana equivalent of so-called open bottle bylaws that govern consumption of alcohol in public.
But last week, Stillman pulled his request after learning that Attorney General Martha Coakley's office is not likely to approve public-consumption bylaws for marijuana that include arrest. The attorney general's office has final approval over all new bylaws passed by towns.
The new state law decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana includes a two-paragraph section suggesting that towns create bylaws prohibiting public consumption of marijuana. The legislation includes suggested language for such bylaws, recommending that towns levee additional fines for public consumption, and notes that the "bylaw may be enforced through any lawful means in law or in equity including, but not limited to, enforcement by criminal indictment."
Such wording has confused town officials about whether they can implement a public-consumption bylaw that includes the power to arrest those smoking marijuana in public.
Stillman wanted to include the power to arrest as a means of legally forcing a user to identify himself or herself. Many critics of the decriminalization statute are bothered that it contains no provision for forcing marijuana users to give their real name when being ticketed.
Until last week, police officials had been unable to get the attorney general's office to state whether it would approve bylaws that include arrest. According to Wayne Sampson, executive director of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, the attorney general is not empowered to give advice when a bylaw is being created, but can give an opinion only when a bylaw comes up for approval.
Sampson said that about three dozen communities had contacted him with questions about the bylaw. After consulting with the attorney general's office several times, Sampson last week e-mailed memos to the state's police chiefs saying he believes that municipal public-consumption laws cannot include the power to arrest.
"What the AG's office is telling us is if they see a bylaw - if the power of arrest is in there - they're probably not going to approve it," said Sampson. "That's as close as they'll come to giving us an opinion now, because they're not authorized to by statute."
Although Sampson officially recommends that public-consumption bylaws include language making it unlawful to give false identification, Stillman doesn't believe that would work.
"Without a provision for arrest, there's no way we can make a person identify themselves," said Stillman. "If someone says, 'I'm not telling you my name,' there's not much you can do."
Bruce Mirken, a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, an advocacy group in Washington, D.C., doesn't believe public-consumption bylaws are needed.
"The initiative clearly allows towns to create bylaws about pub consumption, but we would urge towns not to rush into anything," said Mirken. "There are 11 other states that have marijuana-decriminalization laws, and I'm not aware that public consumption has ever been a problem in any of those states."
Knowing that the attorney general won't approve bylaws that empower police to arrest, Stillman doubts many police officials will try to pass public-consumption bylaws. Instead, he and others will wait and see if the Legislature amends the law this year.
"We'll see what happens in the Legislature. There are a lot of bills pending to clean up some of the holes in the law," said Stillman. "Maybe the Legislature will deal with the issue of identification."
News Hawk- Ganjarden 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Boston Globe
Author: Joan Wilder
Contact: Boston Globe
Copyright: 2009 NY Times Co.
Website: Drug Law Perplexes Police
Last month, Chief Richard Stillman filed a request for spring Town Meeting to approve a bylaw that would allow police to arrest people who smoke marijuana in public and become disorderly or resist confiscation.
The town was among the first in the Commonwealth to file for the bylaw, considered the marijuana equivalent of so-called open bottle bylaws that govern consumption of alcohol in public.
But last week, Stillman pulled his request after learning that Attorney General Martha Coakley's office is not likely to approve public-consumption bylaws for marijuana that include arrest. The attorney general's office has final approval over all new bylaws passed by towns.
The new state law decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana includes a two-paragraph section suggesting that towns create bylaws prohibiting public consumption of marijuana. The legislation includes suggested language for such bylaws, recommending that towns levee additional fines for public consumption, and notes that the "bylaw may be enforced through any lawful means in law or in equity including, but not limited to, enforcement by criminal indictment."
Such wording has confused town officials about whether they can implement a public-consumption bylaw that includes the power to arrest those smoking marijuana in public.
Stillman wanted to include the power to arrest as a means of legally forcing a user to identify himself or herself. Many critics of the decriminalization statute are bothered that it contains no provision for forcing marijuana users to give their real name when being ticketed.
Until last week, police officials had been unable to get the attorney general's office to state whether it would approve bylaws that include arrest. According to Wayne Sampson, executive director of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, the attorney general is not empowered to give advice when a bylaw is being created, but can give an opinion only when a bylaw comes up for approval.
Sampson said that about three dozen communities had contacted him with questions about the bylaw. After consulting with the attorney general's office several times, Sampson last week e-mailed memos to the state's police chiefs saying he believes that municipal public-consumption laws cannot include the power to arrest.
"What the AG's office is telling us is if they see a bylaw - if the power of arrest is in there - they're probably not going to approve it," said Sampson. "That's as close as they'll come to giving us an opinion now, because they're not authorized to by statute."
Although Sampson officially recommends that public-consumption bylaws include language making it unlawful to give false identification, Stillman doesn't believe that would work.
"Without a provision for arrest, there's no way we can make a person identify themselves," said Stillman. "If someone says, 'I'm not telling you my name,' there's not much you can do."
Bruce Mirken, a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, an advocacy group in Washington, D.C., doesn't believe public-consumption bylaws are needed.
"The initiative clearly allows towns to create bylaws about pub consumption, but we would urge towns not to rush into anything," said Mirken. "There are 11 other states that have marijuana-decriminalization laws, and I'm not aware that public consumption has ever been a problem in any of those states."
Knowing that the attorney general won't approve bylaws that empower police to arrest, Stillman doubts many police officials will try to pass public-consumption bylaws. Instead, he and others will wait and see if the Legislature amends the law this year.
"We'll see what happens in the Legislature. There are a lot of bills pending to clean up some of the holes in the law," said Stillman. "Maybe the Legislature will deal with the issue of identification."
News Hawk- Ganjarden 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Boston Globe
Author: Joan Wilder
Contact: Boston Globe
Copyright: 2009 NY Times Co.
Website: Drug Law Perplexes Police
