The Observer views 2009 with optimism and dread. It depends on the day. What's raising my spirits exponentially are visions of the enforcement of Question 2, the referendum approved in November that reduces the penalty for possession of an ounce or less of marijuana from a criminal offense to a giggle.

Question 2 went into effect the day before yesterday. On first inspection, the law looks swell. Anyone over room temperature IQ knows that the criminal prosecution of someone with some dope in his pocket is lunacy. And the mere idea that someone could lose a student loan or flunk a job application because of a dope record is appalling.

Better still, the vast amount of money we spend busting and prosecuting people for illegal marijuana possession can now be devoted to chasing the real baddies.

While the goals are admirable, the law's implementation belongs in Chapter 2 of "Alice's Adventures In Wonderland," the one where she says, "Let me see: four times five is twelve, and four times six is thirteen . . ."

It will be the source of much levity and, I predict, end up in a Letterman monologue. What the passage of Question 2 does is raise a blizzard of brain teasers best addressed by Talmudic scholars.

My favorite will be the means by which police officers determine if the marijuana found on someone is more than an ounce. A woman in media relations at the Boston Police Department told me last week that officers are trained at the police academy to use their discretion about what's an ounce and what's over an ounce.

Whatever that means.

I envision something along these lines:

"Frank, does this look over a lid to you?

"No, Jimmy, it actually looks light for a lid. Back in the day, I'd have called the guy on it before I bought any. I always had my scale handy."

"Yeah, but you don't have a scale. I don't have a scale. Nobody has a scale."

"So what do we do?"

"Rock paper scissors."

"Bingo."

The civil penalty for possessing an ounce of dope or less for personal use is now a feather light hundred dollar fine - the price of a ticket for parking in front of a Boston fire hydrant. If you believe it's crazy to bother anyone carrying dope, then let's can the fines and legalize the stuff.

But if you believe that smoking marijuana is a bad idea, that it is a gateway drug to heavier stuff, then we need a civil penalty consistent with that message. I'm thinking the fine should start at, say, $300, rise to $500 for the second citation and hit at a grand for a trifecta. What we've got now is the worst of both worlds.