News » Some Massachusetts Towns Give Up On Enforcing Marijuana Law





A Massachusetts law passed by an overwhelming majority on a ballot measure in 2008 has become unenforceable and many towns have given up on trying to. The law changed how the law views marijuana possession, dropping criminal penalties for any possession under an ounce, making it a civil offense with a $100 fine. The problem?

When police officers write a ticket for a non-traffic related civil offense, the person being ticketed is not required to show ID. So many of the tickets are being issued to people who don’t exist or can’t be found to make them pay. It also carries no enforcement of the fines beyond normal civil measures.

So towns that have been issuing tickets are seeing a lot of them go unpaid. Even if they do know who the ticket is to, where they live, etc., the cost and time to proceed with a small claims matter for only $100 is a waste of resources. So many towns are just dropping the issue altogether, effectively making it legal for people to possess up to an ounce of pot with no penalty.

The Chiefs of Police Association is pushing for stricter enforcement to allow requirements for identification and stronger penalties for those who don’t pay. Most lawmakers seem uninterested in this, preferring instead to wait until the law has had some time to work itself out.

In the mean time, some cities are still handing out tickets while others have all but given up.

[source Washington Post]

Tags: Massachusetts, medical