Pubdate: Tue, 14 Feb 2012 Source: Patriot Ledger, The (Quincy, MA) Copyright: 2012 GateHouse Media, Inc. Contact: http://www.patriotledger.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1619 Author: Christian Schiavone, The Patriot Ledger SOUTH SHORE OFFICIALS PRAISE POT DISTRIBUTION RULING Police and prosecutors on the South Shore are praising a ruling by the state's highest court that affirms their ability to charge someone with intent to distribute marijuana even if they're caught with a small amount of the drug. The Supreme Judicial Court on Monday released a ruling overturning a lower court's decision that a Great Barrington man could not be charged with intent to distribute marijuana because he had less than an ounce of the drug and there was no sale or transaction. Passage of a 2008 ballot question made possession of an ounce or less of marijuana a non-criminal offense subject to a $100 fine in Massachusetts. But the high court's ruling said that referendum did not affect laws or penalties for suspects caught with any amount of marijuana and evidence that they intended to distribute it, even if the distribution doesn't involve a sale. "It appears that the court has upheld a separate and distinct crime of intent to distribute," Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey said of the ruling. "It'll help settle some cases we have on the books and send a strong message to people who are distributing." Police say it's not hard to tell the difference between a stash meant for personal use and one meant to by divvied up among buyers. Several small, equally apportioned bags of marijuana, cash from previous sales and even a scale or a ledger listing names of buyers and the amounts they paid are all considered telltale signs of intent to distribute. In the Great Barrington case, the man charged, Shawn Keefner, was caught with three sandwich bags each containing two grams of marijuana with a combined weight of less than a quarter of an ounce, according to the court ruling. A district court judge ruled that Keefner could not be criminally charged because of the amount of marijuana and because there was no sale or transaction. The high court's ruling said prosecution for possession with intent to distribute isn't limited to cases where there is a sale, but it did not explicitly define what actions are considered distributing. Hingham Police Sgt. Steven Dearth said since the 2008 referendum, many dealers don't think they can be charged if they're caught with less than an ounce of marijuana. "They are surprised at that," Dearth said. "People still believe, at least the ones we've arrested, they can do anything if it's under an ounce." But while Monday's ruling affirmed current police practice, several officers and prosecutors said the post-2008 referendum law still needs tightening, including stepping up penalties for anyone younger than 21 caught with marijuana to put the law on par with restrictions on minors possessing alcohol. "An 18-year-old kid can stand outside a police station and smoke a joint, and all he gets is a $100 ticket," Weymouth police Capt. Richard Fuller said. "If the same kid is drinking a beer, he could get arrested. Decriminalization of marijuana sent the wrong message to kids." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom