Pubdate: Mon, 12 Jan 2009
Source: Harvard Post, The (MA)
Copyright: 2005 Community Newspaper Company, Inc
Contact:  http://www2.townonline.com/harvard/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3803
Author: Shaun Moriarty
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

THE DOPE ON QUESTION 2

Bolton - Local police and school officials will face a new challenge 
in 2009 as a result of a new state law that decriminalizes the 
possession of less than one ounce of marijuana.

With the approval of Question 2 in the November 2008 election, anyone 
caught with less than one ounce of marijuana will be subject to a 
civil fine of $100 and will not be reported to the state's criminal 
history board. The law further requires that anyone under the age of 
18 must complete a drug awareness program and perform community 
service or be faced with an additional fine of up to $1,000.

The fine, much like a parking ticket, can be appealed in court.

There has been a great deal of misinformation and misunderstanding of 
what the law, which took effect on Jan. 1, allows. Bolton Police 
Chief Vincent Alfano, who opposed Question 2, said he is concerned 
the law was poorly constructed and is likely to be abused.

"I feel the law was rushed. It was ill-conceived, and a lot of 
thought was not put into a lot of the loopholes," Alfano said. "I 
just hope that no tragedies come out of the passage of this law. A 
lot of work needs to be done on it, a lot of work, and I hope it's 
not at the expense of anyone getting hurt."

Some of the problematic areas of the law, Alfano explained, include 
finding the most efficient way to determine whether or not an amount 
of marijuana is more than an ounce, and whether a marijuana cigarette 
- - or joint - contains other narcotics as well.

"Various drugs are added to marijuana," Alfano said. "How do we 
determine that? How do we know that it isn't laced with PCP?"

He continued, "Do we carry scales around in police cruisers?"

Alfano explained that scales would have to be certified and, because 
a marijuana citation can be appealed, the accuracy of each scale used 
could be questioned, much in the way radar guns are questioned by 
those fighting a speeding ticket before a judge.

"I do not feel it is a good law. I feel there will be repercussions 
from this law," Alfano said. "I feel that it was rushed through, and 
I feel it has numerous loopholes and areas that were not addressed 
that will become problem issues for the police and everyone else."

Despite his personal feelings, however, Alfano understands his role 
as police chief and knows he and his officers have a job to do.

"It's unfortunate it passed. Bottom law is that it did pass and our 
job is to enforce the law," he said. "If that's the law, we will 
enforce it to the letter."

Regardless of what the newly-enacted law dictates on the streets, 
area school administrators say there will be no change in how the 
situation is handled within their schools. The superintendents of 
both the Harvard and Nashoba Regional school districts said there 
have been no alterations to the school's drug policies as a result of 
the law, nor do either expect any changes to be made.

Nashoba Superintendent Michael Wood said any student found with 
marijuana, regardless of how much, will face swift disciplinary action.

"If they have marijuana on them, that would be a suspension for some 
period of time, up to 10 days," Wood said. "As we've interpreted [the 
law] and have been advised [by legal counsel] . we're going to 
continue with our current rules pertaining to drug possession."

Harvard Superintendent Thomas Jefferson said administrators in his 
district would stick with a similar policy.

"There's still the potential for suspension and reporting to the 
police," he said.

"We haven't changed our policies at all and we will continue to 
involve the police in the same ways as the past," Jefferson added. 
"We're certainly not taking the position of ignoring drug use because 
of the passage of this law."

Alfano said he hopes school administrators remain tough on drug 
possession rules, including marijuana.

"I have children in the schools and I don't want them exposed to 
marijuana in the schools," Alfano said. "Should students light up a 
joint in the hallway in between classes at school?"

Jefferson and Wood said their school districts have had little 
problem enforcing their drug policies and cite very few problems.

"We really have limited issues related to marijuana," Wood said.

"We don't have what I would consider a significant drug problem in 
Harvard," added Jefferson. "I don't want to be naive to think there 
isn't any usage, but we've had very few, if any, cases."

He cited positive attitudes and actions taken by his student body and 
the Harvard community for helping maintain a drug-free environment in 
the schools.

"We're fortunate to have a community where so many kids are engaged 
in what they're doing," Jefferson said. "We'll continue to be 
proactive in maintaining a safe and healthy environment for all of 
our students."

Alfano said he is concerned about the potential for the new law to be 
taken advantage of and fears it may become a serious problem for 
local youth going forward.

"Absolutely this will have an effect on our young people, who are the 
most vulnerable," Alfano said, adding that he is concerned that some 
drug dealers may try to work around the law by selling marijuana an 
ounce at a time.

Wood, who has been reading local newspapers in an attempt to "get a 
handle" on how the new law will affect communities and schools, 
indicated that there is a certain amount of misinformation or 
misunderstanding of what exactly the law does.

"I think there will be some sort of event that somebody will be 
trying to suggest it is no longer illegal, or it's not a felony, to 
have the marijuana on them. We may have that kind of pushback, but 
again, school rules and law are not necessarily the same thing," said 
Wood. "I don't think they'll try to test it, but whomever is the 
first one to be caught might decide to put this on the table and say, 
'This is no longer a felony, you can't touch me,' sort of thing."

He added: "We're not the court. We're the schools."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom