Pot law leaves cops high & dry

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

I don't recall seeing this here, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen...
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Pot law leaves cops high & dry

Many blow off $100 fines

By Edward Mason and Jessica Van Sack

Thursday, July 16, 2009

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Thumbing their noses at the state’s lax new pot law, Bay State stoners are brazenly lighting up in front of cops and then refusing to pay fines - leading some frustrated police chiefs to all but give up the fight.

Local police report widespread defiance of the six-month-old law, and a Herald review shows a vast majority of potheads cited by cops blowing off their $100 fines.

Some egregious examples of tokers flaunting the law include:

• In Arlington, a public works employee was cited by the local police chief for smoking a pot pipe as he stood next to his town-issued tractor.
• At bustling Park Street Station, a pair of nonchalant lovers out on the town openly lit up a joint and continued toking even after confronted by off-duty Milton Chief Richard Wells.
• In East Boston, four teens spotted in a “smoke-filled vehicle” unabashedly told a cop they were “just smoking marijuana.”..

More at: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1185193

[sasquatch]

1. Oh no, they'll have to do real work now

:sarcasm:

[MADem]

6. Actually, it was the police who pushed for the change in the law. Really.

They were tired of spending all day in court for picayune pot busts. They knew they took cops off the street and off the beat to go testify--it was a waste of manpower and resources.

The kids should pay the frigging fine, though. In this poor economy with limited state, city and town revenues, the temptation may be to get all hardass and up the costs.

[MrModerate]

2. Hint, hint, hint! n/t

[Warpy]

3. We all used to sit on the front steps of the apartment building

on hot summer evenings and smoke. An old cop walking the beat would stop and take a hit off the joint. If he saw anybody with an exposed can of beer, he'd tell him to put that thing in a paper bag.

Some cops have always been on our side. It's not the cops, it's the stupid laws they have to enforce.

[jwirr]

8. My grandfather was that kind of policeman. Those were the days. nt

[NYMountaineer]

10. Agreed.

My uncle was a cop for 27 years. At one point, back years ago, he and his family had a marijuana patch in their backyard.

Ask him about it, and he'll tell you how glad he is to be retired and not have to enforce nanny laws nowadays.

[tabasco]

16. Every year, more than 100,000 people become felons

for growing pot.

Unjust and unconscionable.

[Warpy]

18. He's one of the reasons I never got on the "I hate cops" bandwagon

even though there was a police riot in that neighborhood one spring resulting in a lot of broken bones, smashed heads, and trashed buildings.

Officer S___ was a mensch and I'll never forget him.

[Rex]

4. "Just smoking marijuana!"

Beat the ever loving crap out of them! Fucking anarchist, scum! Get the pepper spray and tazers! :sarcasm:

[MADem]

5. I must live in a fuddy duddy neighborhood.

I can't find anyone who does that kind of stuff. I wanted to ask them where the got the goods!

[DefenseLawyer]

7. The Herald is a wing-nut rag.

Egregious flaunting of the law by potheads! Madness! Fear and loathing!

[Ghost in the Machine]

9. "leading some frustrated police chiefs to all but give up the fight."

Actually, the courts could turn the delinquent fines over to the city/county/state for collections and/or a tax levy. I'm all for legalization, but I'll settle for decriminalization (for now). I can sort of admire what these people are doing, but at the same time I feel that they could ruin it for everyone.

Come on folks, pay your fines and don't ruin it for everyone else, ok? This isn't the way to fight for full legalization.

[Odin2005]

11. GOOD!

They need to concentrate at catching murderers, rapists, and corporate fraudsters. Not some guu lighting up a joint.

[Forkboy]

12. They can't pay it. They spent all their money on weed.

:)

[paulsby]

13. many street cops don't support mj laws anyway

tons of guys i work with could not care less if people smoke pot. it's pretty surprising how many cops think mj laws are a total waste of time, resources, and just marginalize otherwise law abiding people. i'm a cop and i don't support such laws.

again, these laws are the fault of LEGISLATORS. we don't make (stupid) laws.

my first police chief (i worked a small town) told me "(name redacted)... I don't care if people smoke marijuana in the privacy of their homes. and you shouldn't either"

[HillbillyBob]

14. I think pot prohibition is a waste because:

I have never seen a violent person on pot..unless you took their last bag of doritos.

I have never seen violent action except by the cops that crashed through my doors and windows and trashed the house because I was supposed to have pot in the house. The second part of that is that if I had 5 pounds of pot to sell I would not have been working a full time construction job, a part time restaurant job and buying junk furniture at yard sales to refinish and resell to pay the house payment and light bills.
We would not have how many million no violent offenders in jail learning to be hardened criminals that would slit your throat so they can get the harder drugs they got addicted to in jail.

We would not have formerly non violent offenders getting out and robbing the stop and shop because they can't find a job because of their conviction.f

We would not have so many single mothers struggling to raise kid because their significant other is in jail, then having their kids become criminals of the next generation because of poverty and neglect.

How many go in to jail and come out with AIDs or Hep A B or C from being raped? There is then the cost of medical care for them, on the states dime meaning ours.

I have rarely seen anyone graduate to harder drugs unless they already had a propensity for it. I have known folks that never drank, never smoke tobacco, never did coke, or meth, or crack, but only smoke pot their whole life and one who was healthy right up til he died of hereditary heart disease.

We wouldn't be wasting so much money.

I am a long term hiv/aids patient, I have been through heart attack and cancer, in part hereditary in part from eating a modern diet. I have lost a bunch of weight and gotten in better shape. I take marinol to keep my meds down and slow the vomiting and gut spasms I have to live with every day. Marinol is very expensive it is not nearly as effective as the natural weed used in a vaporiser. Since I am so very afraid of being arrested and spending the last of my life in jail, which would be very short as prisoners do not get medical care for AIDS, I spent 8 months in for a crime that I did not even commit and nearly died from no care.

[ThomWV]

15. If you want to kill pot smoking make the laws that apply to cigarettes apply to weed.

[City of Mills]

17. I can confirm that.

Just a few days ago I was on a walking path in the city...I passed a pair of guys standing off to the side, one of them rolling a joint, seemingly oblivious to people walking by - by the time I got back, he had it lit and was sharing with his friend, all the while several more people walked past avoiding eye contact.