[420 Girl]

The decriminalization of the possession of small amounts of marijuana goes into effect on January 2 in Massachusetts, after winning approval in a statewide vote in November. Under the new law, anyone caught with an ounce or less of marijuana will owe a $100 fine instead of facing jail time and an arrest record.

David Capeless, president of the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association, told The New York Times that the law will result in de facto legalization of marijuana because it would prove too difficult to enforce and that proponents of the law knew that from the beginning.

One of several complicating factors is that Massachusetts state law bans the police from demanding identification for civil infractions. Wayne Samson, executive director of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, says he anticipates that many violators will lie about their identities. “You can tell us that you’re Mickey Mouse of One Disneyland Way,” Mr. Sampson told the newspaper, “and we have to assume that’s true.” (Pot smokers who get caught are expected to come up with some of the most inventive names the state has ever seen.)

Another concern is how officers will determine whether a suspect possesses more or less than an ounce of marijuana. Some imagine police carrying a scale around with them, but Bridgewater State College Police Chief David Tillinghast told the Daily News Tribune that that would be cumbersome and awkward. Tillinghast prefers to have officers trained to recognize what an ounce looks like, but no training has been offered by the state.

Supporters of the new law say that Massachusetts officials are exaggerating the challenges. Eleven states have decriminalized first-time possession of marijuana, though in most it is a misdemeanor, not a civil offense as it will be in Massachusetts.

Possession of an ounce or less of marijuana in Nebraska is punishable by a $300 civil fine and officials there say their process for handling cases has worked smoothly for three decades. In New York, possession of an ounce or less is a noncriminal violation but is still processed through the criminal system so that positive identity can be established.

Dan Bernath, spokesperson for the Marijuana Policy Project, predicts groovy times for all eventually. “I think the resistance has to do with dealing with something new,” he told The New York Times. “We’re pretty confident that once this gets going and the newness of it wears off, a lot of the apprehension will go away.”

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