Drug WarRant Saturday, January 3, 2009 Massachusetts police finally get it... And? Massachusetts officially decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana yesterday, but many police departments across the state were essentially ignoring the voter-passed law, saying they would not even bother to ticket people they see smoking marijuana. OK. I think that was kind of the idea, you know. I don't know why they were having such a difficult time figuring it out. It's marijuana. No big deal. 9:33:13 PM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment [] Friday, January 2, 2009 Whiners lose It seems that the incessant complaining by law enforcement in Massachusetts about the problems they'll have administering the new marijuana decrim is starting to get some blowback. Herald News Editorial: Don't Complicate Pot Law The only ones unclear about what Question 2 intends are law enforcement officials who act like a civil violation is some radical idea no one ever heard of. [...] This reefer madness is spreading. [...] The public's response to the educators, police and prosecutors should be simple: You're the professionals; work it out. [...] The campaign is over and the voters have spoken. Eagle Tribune Editorial: New Marijuana Law Shouldn't Pose Problems Today, the new law takes effect. Yet some local police departments, as well as others across the state, say they are uncertain about how to enforce it. [...] Nearly two months have passed since 65 percent of Massachusetts voters changed the law. Despite their lack of enthusiasm for the law, state and local law enforcement agencies have had time to prepare. [...] This should not be so difficult. Massachusetts is not the first state to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. Eleven other states have done so. Is there no experience from those states that Massachusetts law enforcement officials can draw upon? [...] The public doesn't see small amounts of marijuana as a problem. Neither should police. 10:09:02 PM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment [] Open Thread Well, I'm finally back from some excellent quality time with family (which did include some good discussions about drug policy -- they've come so far...). I've been really out of touch (having to depend on television(!) for news and information), so it'll take me a bit to catch up. Scott Morgan has the story of another botched raid. The only thing we can be sure of is that these will continue to happen more often as long as law enforcement policies continue in their current direction. And there will be more dead cops and dead innocent civilians. Massachusetts marijuana decrim law goes into effect today. It's unlikely to change things much, but it does make it clear that Massachusetts law enforcement is apparently populated primarily by whining, confused incompetents. After reading their complaints, I'm really glad I don't have to depend on them to, oh, say, investigate anything. Judge blasts plan to randomly drug test teachers. A federal judge halted the Kanawha County school system's plan to randomly drug test teachers. U.S. District Judge Joseph Robert Goodwin said the drug testing plan would force teachers to submit to an unconstitutional and unjustified search. He also gave a scathing rebuke of the policy and the school board that approved it. [...] He said that the school board's argument that something bad could happen while a teacher under the influence of drugs was supervising children was based on an unreasonable kind of worse-case-scenario thinking. Goodwin asked why the board had not also passed a policy to randomly test teachers for tropical diseases. "Total security for us and our children is only possible -- if unlikely -- in a totalitarian state," Goodwin said. He added, "Who wants to live in a society when a government will stop at nothing to prevent bumps and bruises." 2:13:35 PM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment [] Tuesday, December 30, 2008 Some more change I got a moment to get to the library in Antigo, Wisconsin and get me some internet, and lo and behold, the questions are back at Change.gov! I couldn't put in the full question I had intended in my earlier post (the character count maximum is frightfully small), but I was able to put in the following "76% of likely voters think the drug war is failing. Yet suggestions from opponents of the drug war are often dismissed. Will you appoint a blue-ribbon commission to look at all aspects of drug policy, including examining alternatives to prohibition?" There are already close to 1000 questions including the word "marijuana" and quite a few with "drug policy" Get over there and vote for the ones you like. 9:23:07 AM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []