Springfield man's marijuana violation may be first under new law

good job for the police for getting the hard drugs of the street but shame on you for puting crack and pot in the same sentence thats a bunch of bull ive been smokeing pot for 25 years and never used crack or herion great job john you deserve a raise

Oh great. Bring on those who want to make pot and crack seem the same. The guy is caught with enough crack and heroin to send him to jail for the rest of his life, as he should be, and the Globe thinks the story is about the 0.2 grams of marijuana on him. Will the Globe be covering the marijuana story with a vendetta, since the paper editorialized against the measure. . .covering every citation? Or will it be fair?

If this state get their act straight this could be a boon for the state. Imagine getting 100$ everytime we catch a pothead. That could be millions. Encourage public smoking, then give them the tickets. Budget Problem solved

What city is the doofus police chief from who thinks the "law is so poorly written, it can't be enforced"?
I'd like to move to that city, Sounds like the cops there are pretty stupid.
Why is it that cops feel that things are so different now? It is still a crime to toke up in public, only the penalty has changed.
What is it that police find so difficult about this situation? If I had to guess, I'd say that somehow, this new law translates into less revenue for police departments. Perhaps with less "criminals (pot smokers)", it will be harder to justify more department funding, which may tranlate into less cops needed?

Oh great. Bring on those who want to make pot and crack seem the same. The guy is caught with enough crack and heroin to send him to jail for the rest of his life, as he should be, and the Globe thinks the story is about the 0.2 grams of marijuana on him. Will the Globe be covering the marijuana story with a vendetta, since the paper editorialized against the measure. . .covering every citation? Or will it be fair?

Yes, he faces the marijuana violation, but that's the least of his worries. Facing these serious allegations, hopefully he gets a good lawyer or has one appointed who can try and argue his Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated due to an illegal search and seizure.

These drugs arrests always go hand in hand. Too bad the potheads didn't have time to prop up one of their "medical" users for first arrest under the new law. Oh right, they thought of it but then they got too high...

What is the Globe's obsession with this marijuana law? What is this, four stories in two days?

Have no other laws gone into effect this new years?

damn pot smokers...

Massachusetts citizens should have never voted to decriminalize marijuana. It can result in ZERO good.

Is there a story in there somewhere.... other than another crackhead gets busted in Springfield?

The amount of marijuana - .2 grams or 1/141 of an ounce - sounds like pocket lint, not 'possession' of the drug. Possession requires knowledge that it's there and the ability to do something with or control it. Instead, it sounds like the police are taking him to the cleaners. It is, of course, common practice and is considered appropriate, to charge all violations, possibly to set the stage for a plea bargain or a thre-times-you're out scenario. But the police lose credibility when they invent the novel infraction of wearing pants that once held some marijuana.

Just to clarify...he is NOT from Springfield. He's from Holyoke. He got arrested in Springfield. We don't need a worse rap than we already have out here! Thanks, Globe!

"Many police departments across the state told the Globe Friday that that they would ignore the law, not even bothering to ticket people who were smoking marijuana."

What?....... (cough cough).........that's hard to believe....(cough cough).... Man I'm hungry.

duh!

All drugs should be legalized. The so-called "war on drugs" is really a war on a segment of society that chooses drugs as it's vice of choice. Much like many people choose to drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes or drink coffee for that matter. The abuse of drugs is a sickness like alcholoism and should be treated as such. De-criminalizing all drugs would: 1. Free up the court system. 2. Stop making criminals out of people who use drugs. 3. Free up resources that could be used to treat those who abuse drugs as sick people rather than criminials. 4. Ease the burden on our overly taxed prison and jail system. 5. Free up Police resources for better protecting the public from more serious criminal behaviour. 6. Provide a new source of much needed tax revenue. 7. Allow the states to regulate drugs more effectively than is now possible. I could go on....The time has come for a different approach. This small measure is just a first step. Police departments should get used to the idea that the people who control the purse stings are tired of wasting good tax dollars on chasing our tails. We will never win the so-called drug war. Just as prohibition could never work.

WOW!! A marijuana story. This is unheard of....no one has ever been in possession of weed before! The Globe is doing some great journalism here. Are we going to go over this new law everyday? The Globe sucks.

Crack probably wouldn't even exist if Nixon never unilaterally imposed the classification system, which I still believe is un-Constitutional.

Heartless drug dealers looking for more profit invented crack as a way of maximizing profits. It uses a small amount of coke and whole lot of other inexpensive chemicals to create.

We need to stop spending billions upon billions on a War we could never win (the war on drugs) and set a system of taxation and medical oversight for the more commonly recreational drugs like Cocaine, LSD, and shrooms. And work to rid the streets of chemically laced and harmful drugs that do nothing but kill.

The law is for possession, not use. The local municipalities can still come up with laws to criminalize use of it. This is because they did not need laws for smoking before (possession was illegal), they will now. No one has ever been prosecuted for smoking it, only possessing or distributing it. The law was not written properly. I don't smoke pot, but as is typical in this state, we allow dimwitted attorneys and corrupt politicians write the laws.

There is a large difference between drinking a shot of tequila and smoking crack once. These drugs must continued to be fought against, and it's a shame that marijuana is now in a gray zone. The wording is apparently so obscure that police are unsure of how to properly administer it; and yet the drug is no less dangerous.

GIVE ME A BREAK PEOPLE!!!! and grow up!!! I use to like the Globe BUT they are so liberal. So now pot smokers are massive drug dealers!!! these types of articles are what deceives the masses and is why OUR media is the downfall of this country and in fatc the medi and artciles like this is why we are so stupid of a society. this guy was huge drug dealer, NOT YOUR TYPICAL POT SMOKER!! STOP trying to DECEIVE THE PUBLIC BOSTON GLOBE?

How about how pot saved my best frind who had cancer. The media is simply the most misleading thing of all times!!!

What war on drugs in nogales arizona they arent even prosecuting mexican nationals,with less than 498lbs of pot.Yet here in az the police are getting on the marijuana impaired driving bandwagon with their thc tester breath analyzer.Not to mentiopn the redflex traffic cam fiasco.

I use drugs: Whiskey, wine, beer , rum, coffee and I get high, and have dealt with addiction and it is all legal!

Funny

The devil drug marijuana strikes again. Wait how many overdoses have occurred because of this substance? Compared to alcohol, I am sure they are close. The answer is zero. None, nata, zip. Yet this substance has been labeled a notorious illegal substance. Wake up people, the time of ignorance is over!

"Just to clarify...he is NOT from Springfield. He's from Holyoke. He got arrested in Springfield. We don't need a worse rap than we already have out here! Thanks, Globe!"

Yeah, whereas Holyoke can really afford the bad rap! Get it straight!

The war on drugs is a war on the American people. How is putting a person in jail for whatever drug he uses helping him in any way? Jail sentences should ALL be stopped any if people have to be arrested at all, they should be sent to treatment centers or counciling. Even this will NOT stop a lot of addicts, this is their choice. Not even a choice, look at cigarette smokers who use the most addictive drug known to mankind, nicotine. Most would love to stop but they cannot even though they know their addiction, NOT habbit is killing them. But this killer of over one half of a million people each year is legal and making the real drug barons rich beyound beyound measure. We now have one of the biggest prison populations in the world now with over half of it drug offenders and most of them just for pot! Yet our government has the audacity to talk about the abuses of other governments of their people. Where is the real justice? Even in this democratic "so called" country our vote does not count when we vote for medical marijuana people are still arrested for it. Gary )^_^)

Potheads have this narrow view that smoking pot doesn't hurt anyone. How about the folks who are forced to bring their illegal pot into the country. How about the folks who are killed by vicious drug dealers who also happen to deal pot. Has smoking so much pot made you totally ignorant to the larger facts of life??

It's easy to spot the pot smokers above. They were all stoned when they wrote their comments. For example, HeyBudBoston writes that the police chief is a "doofus," apparently for being unable to understand the law. Has DoofusBudBoston even read the law? Surely not. Does DoofusBudBoston even know why the law is unenforceable? No. Does DoofusBudBoston have an opinionated view on everything he doesn't understand? Yes.

Read the law and talk to someone in law enforcement and keep an open mind, then you'll understand why the law is flawed.

I gather the pot smokers object to being grouped with cocaine users -- but, does anyone doubt that more pot smokers use cocaine (%-wise) than non-pot smokers and that more cocaine users smoke pot (%-wise) than non-cocaine users?

As for Rick H., the drug legalization route has already failed in numerous countries-- unless you think increased drug use without any of the savings cited above is progress. It's not hard to find the solid support for this on the web. Try searching this: european experience crime rates drug legalization

mike dunn, maybe it's because you have been smoking pot for 25 years that you spell it SMOKEING haha

You folks are misunderstanding the reason for the article. The focus is that
the 0.2 grams of Marijuana was not considered more than a parking ticket since the law was changed - also that police will not care to enforce it UNLESS
it is in connection with more serious drugs such as crack etc.. Please bash less and read more...

I need some nachos...

It is unenforcable because if you are walking down the street smoking a joint and a cop stops you to ticket you, you do not have to identify yourself or produce ID. You can give a fake name, if you even choose to give a name. Basically at that point, what is the cop going to do. He is standing there with his ticket book in hand and thats it, he can't force you to identify yourself in this situation. You just refuse to identify yourself, he takes your pot and go on your way

oh no not 200 milligrams!!! that's an estimated street value of....of...of... 75 cents!

First, I feel this article is biased so as to spread false propaganda about weed. If the reporter knew anything regarding a simple drug such as marijuana, he'd know 0.2 g had no effect at all in the man's prosecution; it was all about the heavier drugs. Second, I like reading about the several articles written on this topic since it is a law that was just passed the other day, so yes it is still news. Lastly, people like Shecky who can't keep their mouths shut need to learn how to do so. You voted, we voted, and the results stood out by a landslide. So stop complaining, you had your chance.

Hardly High says "The law was not written properly. ...we allow dimwitted attorneys and corrupt politicians write the laws." No, this law was written by advocates for pot smoking, *not* by attorneys or by politicians. Therefore, there are huge holes in the law because the pot advocates don't understand, apparently, how law works. And yes, there are big flaws in law (as a poster noted already, for example, no requirement that someone being ticketed must provide ID). And FYI -- to people yelling here that the Globe is lumping pot smokers with crack addicts: the story did no such thing. Read the article.

Good for Massachusetts! This article is proof that their new policy works perfectly. Because the jails are no longer overcrowded with trivial marijuana arrests, police are able to focus their collective strength against those who traffic substances that, by poisoning the body in their respective ways, directly cause death or dehabilitation as a result of use. It is very nice to see a story that directly points out how a law is working perfectly, despite the publisher's disagreement with the law's passage. This shows good moral character and sound reasoning by the part of the journalists involved.

The police are also about to take advantage of the law!..The police are being intsructed that if Marijuana is in someones blood or urine than you can be issued a ticket.. So, be prepared to be asked...The state is going to balance the budget on the lungs of pot heads!

Damn I'd give $100 now for one bag of chips right now!! cough cough.

Mr. Guilfoil,

Kindly let your story get better by releasing the name of the chief on your closing pharagraph, otherwise, you should try to skip giving your commentary type of writing.
It sounded pretty informative, good job on that, but please refrain from doing comparatives between marijuana and crack...

It's quite obvious that the defendant is a drug dealer!

jjlen, you make a good point - this law was written by advocates, not lawyers or politicians. Perhaps if the people who are supposed to be writing the laws had paid more attention to what the average citizen wanted, instead of just writing more and more draconian laws, we wouldn't be stuck with legislation by ballot question.

Wake up people we are in a financial meltdown and yet we are commuting billions of dollars to impose some moral standard on ourselves and the rest of the world. Drug prohibition is a tyrannical attempt to control and enslave all of us at are own expense. Every single reason that previous bloggers have cited to prove marijuana is bad are a direct result of making marijuana illegal.We have had a war on drugs since Nixon and not one less person uses drugs,in fact it has probably increased the supply of drugs as a result of higher profit margins leaving more oppurtunity for more people. We have succeded in one area though, we now imprison a higher populatio percentage than any other country at the expense of our tax dollars so that Corp cartels can use dirt cheap labor. I guess that's a good thing right? U know keeping the jobs from going overseas.

To response #28
I havn't smoked pot in quite some time...so this is not a case of "Has smoking so much pot made you totally ignorant to the larger facts of life??" The times they are a changin...honestly, you think most the pot people smoke here in the states comes from other countries? I believe it is you my friend who are "ignorant to the larger facts of life." It doesnt come from jamaica or columbia these days...it's grown in your neighbor's basement, and it's a whole lot better then it used to be...As for these vicious, murderous pot dealers, i have to say, I've never met one. So get your facts straight before you spout off like an idiot.

~peace

If you think alcohol and smoking is bad then you shouldn't ask to legalize marajuana. I feel sick to my stomach seeing my brother high everyday on pot. I keep hearing that its not addictive and Im just an occasional smoker.The point is that the society we live in today the majority don't do things in moderation. Everything is done in excess. Why instead of working so much effort in trying to legalize it don't you do some community work, volunteer or take get high from helping someone. For people to need something to numb, relax their senses or get high is because there running away from there problems or don't like the real world.