Pubdate: Mon, 02 Feb 2009 Source: Daily News Transcript, The (Norwood, MA) Copyright: 2009 GateHouse Media, Inc. Contact: http://www.dailynewstranscript.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3501 Author: Keith Ferguson Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?246 (Policing - United States - News) WALPOLE COPS PUSH FOR NEW POT MEASURE WALPOLE - Police want the marijuana equivalent of the town's "open bottle law" that allows them to bust people who drink in public. This lit pot law would give officers the right, if it is necessary, to arrest a person smoking pot in public. The idea will go before Town Meeting on May 4 in the form of a warrant article. With the new state law decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana, Bay Staters can now carry up to an ounce of marijuana - or upwards of a dozen or so marijuana cigarettes (depending on the potency of the drug) - without facing arrest. Those caught with less that an ounce of the drug are now punished with a civil fine of $100. As it stands right now, a resident could smoke marijuana in public and police would not have the authority to arrest them as long as they were carrying under an ounce, according to Police Chief Richard Stillman. "It obviously creates a problem for the public in general," Stillman said, if someone is openly smoking around other people. If a person is caught drinking alcohol on public property, officers usually just ask them to pour it out, said Stillman. But, if the person drinking in public does not comply with officers' commands or becomes disorderly, he said, police have the right to arrest the person under the "open-bottle" by law. Similarly, Stillman said, if the bylaw were to pass Town Meeting, police would ask the person to get rid of the marijuana and simply issue the fine. Stillman stressed all officers would be instructed to use the law judiciously - only arresting if the person smoking the marijuana is being uncooperative with police. "We want to make sure we have the tools to go forward if need be," he said. Under the town bylaw request, a person found possessing under an ounce of marijuana would be fined $100 for their first offense, $200 for their second and $300 for their third and any subsequent offense. Selectmen are also pushing for an inclusion of a clause that would automatically make the fine $300 if the person is found in possession of the pot while driving. The measure as a whole is "not a big deal change," Stillman told selectmen during his quarterly review three weeks ago, at least in Walpole. "Half the time we came in contact with people with marijuana we didn't arrest," he said. During routine traffic stops, Stillman said police used marijuana possession as a tool to be able to search the driver's car for stolen goods, guns or more serious drugs. Police still have that ability, Stillman said, "for now." He did say the new state law has the potential of creating a "personnel nightmare" as police would need to control the public use of marijuana and set up mandatory drug awareness classes and community service programs for residents under 18 caught carrying an ounce of pot or less. So far, three people have been caught and cited since the new law was enacted on Jan.1, according to police. Stillman said those cited under the new law will not have the incident follow them around on their record, as it is no longer a criminal offense. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin