:sifone: The news didn't give it much mention(I wonder why), but the stoners in Massachusetts have taken the marijuana debate to the next level. They have been token in public and in front of law enforcement, then refusing to pay the fine. The police have been overwhelmed by the actions of the stoners, and have more or less, stopped giving out the citations. Instead of just talking change, they have displayed the type of protest that the whole country should. Think about it. If all us stoners decided to light up, How would the government handle it?eace:
"Was the government to prescribe to us our medicine and diet, our bodies would be in such keeping as our souls are now. Thus in France the emetic was once forbidden as a medicine, and the potato as an article of food. Government is just as fallible, too, when it fixes systems in physics. Galileo was sent to the Inquisition for affirming that the earth was a sphere; the government had declared it to be as flat as a trencher, and Galileo was obliged to abjure his error. Reason and experiment have been indulged, and error has fled before them. It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself." ~ Thomas Jefferson, "Notes on the State of Virginia," 1787 Bridgewater pot fines going up in smoke Bridgewater is getting burned on pot fines. Town Clerk Ron Adams said the town has issued nine citations for $100 each since the new state law decriminalizing possession of up to an ounce of marijuana went into effect on Jan. 2. But only one of those citations has been paid. “It seems these fines are being ignored,” Adams said. People who receive the citations have 21 days to either pay the piper or file an appeal for a hearing in district court. And the appeals period is up for the unpaid tickets. Adams said the ballot initiative, which set up a system of civil fines to replace the criminal charges previously in place, assigns the task of collecting the fines to city and town clerks. But the law does not include an enforcement mechanism. “There are no teeth in the law,” he said. Adams said he is able to handle the added workload because the number of citations is manageable, but city clerks are facing an “overload.” He said there is a move underway at the state level to move the collection job to the court system. continued... Mass. marijuana reform activists protest Brown bill Massachusetts marijuana law reform supporters continue to fight back against actions to take away gains they made last November with the passage of Question 2, the law decriminalizing marijuana. I want what Deputy Chief Brooks is smoking, if he thinks disclosure of marijuana citation was prohibited by past law and is mandatory under the new decriminalization policy! It's exactly the opposite! Arrest records are public! We have the Criminal Offender Registry, or CORI, that allows employers, schools, etc., to see what you may have been arrested for in the past, marijuana-related or otherwise. Under decriminalization, there is no record kept, once the fine has been paid. He also states that driving under the influence is a problem, especially since there does not appear to be impairment! It seems he has decided that a problem exists, and then takes the fact that it cannot be easily detected as proof of a problem. If there is no impairment, and a field sobriety test (which works for alcohol, cold medicines, sleeping pills, and other substances that cause impairment) cannot detect impairment, then guess what? There's no impairment, and not the problem that Deputy Dawg wishes existed. ~ Keith Saunders Police adjusting to new marijuana law/Tickets are going unpaid Sen. Brown would change marijuana law If an area legislator has his way, those caught with small amounts of marijuana in a car will face fines 10 times greater than Massachusetts voters backed last November. ...and in Colorado... New Pot Rules Torched Health Board Nixes Change To Colorado Pot Use Veterans, Dispensaries Oppose Colo. Pot Changes Crowd Stands Up for Access To Medical Marijuana
