2008 Massachusetts Question 2

The Sensible Marijuana Policy Initiative, also known as Massachusetts Ballot Question 2, is an initiated state statute that would replace current criminal penalties with civil penalties on adults possessing an ounce or less of marijuana. The initiative will appear on the November 4, 2008 ballot in Massachusetts.

Question 2, if it passes, will:

• Replace criminal penalties with a US$100 fine of which the proceeds go to the city where the offense takes place.
• Eliminate collection of Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) reports for minor infractions.
• Maintain current penalties for selling, growing, and trafficking marijuana, as well as the prohibition against driving under the influence of marijuana.
• The law requires additional penalties for minors not in current law such as Parental notification, compulsary drug awareness program, and 10 hours community service. plus a larger US$1,000 fine and possible delinquency proceedings for those under 17 if they do not complete the requirements.

The law represents a break with current law in Massachusetts, where people charged with marijuana possession face criminal penalties of up to six months in jail and a US$500 fine, and a CORI report is filed.

On Tuesday, September 10th 2008 a city councillor in Worcester called for a vote on a measure to express the opposition by the city of worcester to the initiative. The city council rejected and voted down the measure by a 10-1 vote, with the only vote for the measure coming from the councillor that requested the vote.

Supporters

The Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy is the leading proponent of the initiative. Whitney Taylor serves as the group's treasurer and chairwoman.

Organizations -

   * American Civil Liberties Union — National
   * American Civil Liberties Union — Massachusetts chapter
   * National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws
   * Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition, Inc.
   * Union of Minority Neighborhoods
   * The Boston Worker’s Alliance

Individuals -

   *  Ronald Ansin, ACLU, philanthropist
   * Charles H. Baron, Esq., Boston College School of Law
   * Jack Cole, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
   * Michael D. Cutler, Esq.
   * Richard Elliott Doblin, PhD, MAPS
   * Sergeant Howard Donohue, a 33-year veteran of the Boston Police Department
   * Lester Grinspoon, M.D., associate professor emeritus of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School
   * John H. Halpern, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School
   * Massachusetts state Sen. Patricia Jehlen (D-Second Middlesex), chair of the Joint Committee on Elder Affairs and Vice-Chair of the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight
   * Wendy Kaminer, Esq., ACLU, author, journalist
   * Woody Kaplan, ACLU, philanthropist
   * Thomas R. Kiley, Esq., Cosgrove, Eisenberg & Kiley
   * Karen Klein, Brandeis University, Unitarian Universalists for Drug Policy Reform
   * Lanny Kutakoff, Partakers, Inc.
   * Dr. Robert Meenan, dean of the Boston University School of Public Health
   * Lieutenant Thomas Nolan, a 30-year veteran of the Boston Police Department who now teaches criminology at Boston University
   * Massachusetts state Rep. Frank Smizik (D-Fifteenth Norfolk), chair of the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture
   * Carl Valvo, Esq., Cosgrove, Eisenberg & Kiley
   * Ernest “Tony” Windsor, Esq., Massachusetts Law Reform Institute
   * Rev. B. Baker "rev.420" of green faith ministry

A Suffolk University / WHDH Channel 7 poll has shown that 72 percent of Greater Boston residents are in favor of replacing criminal penalties with civil fines for carrying an ounce or less of marijuana. "The public may be signaling that pursuing small-time marijuana users is a waste of taxpayer resources," said David Paleologos, director of the Political Research Bureau at Suffolk University. "This issue suggests there is a libertarian streak in the thinking of the Massachusetts voter." The poll was conducted with 400 residents between July 31 and August 3, 2008.

Arguments in favor

Supporting arguments advanced by the proponents include:

• It would save Massachusetts US$130 million per year, according to a 2002 report by Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron.
• Instances of minor marijuana possession would no longer affect if people can obtain jobs, housing, and school loans.
• Currently there are about 2.8 million CORI records on file for a population of 6 million.
• Small convictions have been shown to have little or no impact on drug use.

The National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse (also known as the Shafer Commission) was created by Public Law 91-513 in 1972 to study marijuana abuse in the United States. It published its findings in a report called Marihuana: A Signal of Misunderstanding and recommended that the president should decriminalize possession of marijuana in amounts that constituted "simple possession".

So far 30 non-binding public policy questions calling for civil fines for possession of marijuana rather then criminal penalties have passed in legislative districts throughout Massachusetts since 2000. These questions were passed with an average of 62% of the vote in favor. No Public policy question related to replacing criminal penalties with civil fines has ever failed in the state of Massachusetts.

The Joint Mental Health and Substance Abuse Committee of the Massachusetts General Court voted 6-1 in favor of a bill that would have made possession of less than an ounce of marijuana punishable by a civil fine.

Funding

Of the US$429,000 that initiative supporters reported raising through the end of 2007, George Soros has made the largest contribution of US$400,000. As of September 8th, 2008 they have raised US$648,473 to help pass the measure.

Opposition

Michael O'Keefe, who is the president of the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association, will be leading a campaign in opposition to the measure. He believes that it will lead to a increase in minors using the drug by sending the wrong message to them.

He along with 10 other district attorneys have contributed more then $2,000 each to the newly formed Coalition to Save Our Streets who now has $27,670 to fight the measure as of September 8th 2008.

William Breault, chairman of the Main South Alliance for Public Safety in Worcester, also plans to lead opposition against the measure.

Controversy

On September 17, 2008 the Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy filed complaints with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance and the Attorney General's office against the Massachusetts District Attorney Association, the 11 state district attorneys and O'Neill and Associates, a Boston public relations firm. The complaints allege that they violated fundraising laws as well as campaign laws and abuse of public office by seeking out and spending donations prior to establishing a ballot committee, putting forth false and misleading information regarding the effects of the law, and using a state owned website to propagate those falsehoods. The statement on the state run Massachusetts District Attorneys Association website says that if the question is approved, "any person may carry and use marijuana at any time". When in fact the law does not legalize marijuana and it is still a crime punishable by a $100 fine. The district attorneys also allegedly began collecting funds as early as July 18th, but did not form the ballot question committee known as the Coalition to Save Our Streets until September 5th 2008. Violations of the campaign finance law may result in up to 1 year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Petition drive to qualify

The support group collected over 105,000 to meet the initial requirement of 66,593 valid signatures. Since Massachusetts is an indirect initiative state, this meant that the Massachusetts State Legislature had to take up the proposed measure. Since the legislature declined to act on it by early May, the supporter then had until June 18, 2008 to collect another 11,099 signatures to ensure that the initiative is placed on the November 2008 statewide ballot, a goal at which they succeeded, along with two other ballot propositions., ,

See also

• Massachusetts 2008 ballot measures
• Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults Act of 2008

External links

• Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy
• Sensible Marijuana Policy Ballot Language
• Attorney General's Opinion 07-09
• Campaign finance registration statement of support committee