It takes a couple of tries, but on a windy morning on Boston Common, Glenn Prescott succeeds in lighting a joint. He’s breaking the law, but if police catch him, he’d only face a fine. Possessing less than an ounce of pot is a civil violation, but buying it is still a crime.
"If the cops pull up, that's—you’re dealing drugs, they consider that drugs,” said Prescott, “You get arrested, and then a record and stuff like that, so I’m scared when I got to get it sometimes."
Now, legislation pending at the State House—right across the street from Prescott is smoking—would make buying and selling marijuana legal.
Andy Gaus, of Bay State Repeal, a group that advocates legalizing marijuana, said the bill is flawed because it includes heavy taxes and fees that will feed a continued demand for pot sold on the streets. Case in point: Colorado, where you can grow, sell and buy marijuana legally but where just last week, Denver police raided two unlicensed growers and seized plants worth millions.
"One thing we really want to do is bring the black market above ground," Gaus said, "and that’s one thing we really haven’t done in Colorado; and that means taxes must not be excessive."
But Gaus doesn’t expect the pending legislation to go anywhere. And in Massachusetts, it’s been voters, not lawmakers, who have eased restrictions on pot, passing ballot initiatives that first decriminalized it then made it available for medical use. Now an effort is underway to get a question on the 2016 ballot asking Massachusetts voters to make marijuana legal.
"I think the voters have been deceived," said Jody Hensley, of Smart Approaches to Marijuana. Founded by former Rhode Island Congressman Patrick Kennedy, SAM opposes marijuana legalization.
Hensley says with legalization comes commercialization. She points to painting of a cookie-monster like character advertising pot on the side of a Denver store.
"It’s exactly what they did with Joe Camel marketing tobacco to kids," Hensley said. "But the point is, it’s an addictive drug, just like tobacco."
State Rep. David Rogers, who's co-sponsoring the pending bill that would legalize marijuana, and Walpole Police Department Deputy Chief John Carmichael, who opposes the bill, debated the issue on Greater Boston:
