Ten Months Later, Hardly a Glitch for Legal Pot in Massachusetts

by Matt Kelley

criminaljustice.change.org

Published October 10, 2009 @ 10:53AM PT

When are we going to hear about the chronic malaise that has settled over Massachusetts since the state decriminalized pot in January? What about the wave of school dropouts? A spike in demand for "Half Baked" from Massachusetts Netflix hubs? At least a boon for pizza delivery? Nothing?

I've been watching the news, and there's been hardly a peep. In fact the few peeps we've heard have confirmed what I expected to happen: nothing. One story ran recently in the suburban MetroWest Daily News under the headline "Marijuana Law Has Had Little Effect on Schools," but the story opened with some anecdotes about high teenagers and took 10 paragraphs to get around to its point. Finally, the buried lede:

Overall, however, there hasn't been a serious problem with pot in schools.

"I thought I'd see more issues. But we haven't," said Milford High School Principal John Brucato.

Mass. State Rep. Scott Brown is concerned, however, that the decriminalization means more people are driving under the influence of pot. It's hard to say if this is true, but it's a separate issue and one that needs to be addressed like alcohol -- with prevention, education and transportation options, not with jail. Brown introduced a bill that would increase fines for possession of pot in a car from $100 to $1,000. This bill is a mistake and an obvious attempt to undermine a widely supported referndum, and maybe it has something to do with Brown's run for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination.

I'm solidly against driving under the influence of pot -- I give zero credence to the argument that one can drive safely while high. But this rule isn't the right way to address driving on drugs. DUI laws address drivers intoxicated on any substance, and intoxication is far more important to consider under the law than possession.

Unfortunately, open containers are hard to define when it comes to marijuana. Brown's bill only punishes drivers and passengers for marijuana in the passenger area. So at least drivers are safe if they put the pot in the trunk. That's something. No bill should punish possession without mention of use, however, and that's where this proposal goes wrong.

Here's the Marijuana Policy Project's position on driving under the influence of pot. Driving under the influence is a critical issue for the legalization community to discuss, and I'll post more on it next week.