Officials fight pot initiative; Question called `bad proposal'.

Byline: John J. Monahan

BOSTON - Some of the state's leading law enforcement officials, including Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. and Worcester County Sheriff Guy W. Glodis, yesterday ripped into the ballot proposal to lower penalties for marijuana possession, arguing that use of marijuana leads to harder drugs and violent crime.

But proponents of the referendum that would eliminate criminal penalties for marijuana and reduce personal possession to a civil offense with a $100 fine, accused critics of using "scare tactics" and untruths in an attempt to defeat the measure.

Whitney Taylor, of the Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy, said the DAs raised and spent money to oppose the question before forming their Coalition to Save Our Streets. Campaign finance laws require groups to form a committee before raising and spending money.

The referendum, put on the ballot following a citizen petition drive, was pegged as the ballot question most likely to be approved by state voters in a 7News/Suffolk University poll last month, gaining more support than ballot questions to end the state income tax and to ban greyhound racing.

The pollsters said 72 percent of those polled favored the proposed change in marijuana laws and 22 percent opposed it.

David Paleologos, director of the Political Research Center at Suffolk University, said the poll showed the public may be signaling that pursuit of small-time marijuana users is a waste of taxpayer resources.

But at a Statehouse press conference held by opponents to rally opposition, Mr. Glodis and Mr. Early warned that decriminalization is a bad idea that will cost society dearly, hurt public safety and undermine efforts to keep teenagers from abusing drugs.

"Question 2 is a bad proposal. It's bad for our children because it sends the wrong message that drug use is OK," Mr. Glodis said.

"Make no doubt about it, if you went to the Worcester House of Correction there are hundreds of heroin addicts and crack addicts that are incarcerated today because they started with marijuana," the sheriff said.

He said the police fighting drug abuse and drug crime every day will be spread too thin if pot is decriminalized and the social costs will be felt from increased drug addiction and lost productivity.

Mr. Early also joined the press conference, highlighting law enforcement opposition to the change in law and said afterwards that he is worried about the impact the change would have on auto accidents and increased drug abuse.

"We are increasing penalties for drunk driving with Melanie's Law. Why do we want in any way, shape or form, to encourage marijuana use and getting behind the wheel," Mr. Early said.

Speakers said all 11 of the state's District Attorney's, Gov. Deval L. Patrick and Attorney General Martha Coakley oppose the ballot question.

Ms. Taylor, however, said decriminalization in other states has not led to an increase in marijuana use or related crimes.

"Marijuana would remain illegal. We are just changing the penalties for personal possession of an ounce or less. All the other laws remain in place," she said, including strict felony criminal penalties for selling marijuana.

"Eleven other states have passed these policies and the sky did not fall, including our neighbors Maine and New York," she said. "There was no increase in use. There was no increase in related crimes and this did not affect kids the way they are saying," she said of comments from law enforcement critics.

Question 2, she said "is stricter with young people than current law" because it requires citations given to juveniles to be immediately delivered to a parent or a guardian, and would require young people charged with marijuana possession to complete a drug awareness program and perform community service.

Ms. Taylor said concerns expressed by opponents that marijuana can be linked to many murders and a wide range of violent crimes are not valid. "When you get into arson and murder and gunplay, I don't understand what they are saying," she said of police accounts of people engaged in violent crimes in Boston also using marijuana. Further, she said decriminalization measures in other states "have had no effect on use rates whatsoever."

Mr. Early claimed that current laws are not tough on first offenders for marijuana possession, and they do not get sent to prison under current marijuana laws in Massachusetts.

"By law the case is continued six months without a finding and is dismissed. They still get charged. It's a misdemeanor and it's dismissed and that way a person doesn't get a record" of a conviction, Mr. Early said. Under the proposed change, he said, a person caught by police with an ounce or less of marijuana would face a civil offense.

Ms. Taylor, however, challenged claims that offenders do not get criminal records under current law, noting that their arrest on the charge remains in the state's public Criminal Offender Record Information system for many years, unless it is later allowed to be sealed. She said 7,500 people are arrested each year for marijuana in the state and get criminal records.

"They are getting the CORIs upon arrest and those CORIs create barriers to housing, employment and school loans," she said.

Mr. Early said while marijuana smoking among teenagers has dropped significantly, he believes marijuana smoking by adults remains widespread in Worcester County.