State police ready for Mass. pot law
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State Police Prepare For Pot Law
If you're coming to R.I. with your ounce of pot, the state police will be waiting.
This past November, voters in Massachusetts approved a measure making possession of one ounce or less of marijuana a civil offense subject to a $100 fine rather than a crime.
But if any Massachusetts resident plans on taking pot to Rhode Island, the state police will be waiting.
“Anybody that comes from the state of Massachusetts where marijuana was recently (decriminalized), if they’re found to be in possession of any amount of marijuana, they will be arrested here in Rhode Island,“ said Lt. David Neill of the Rhode Island State Police.
Neill said the on-going state and federal war on drugs is hurt by new possession laws like the one in Massachusetts. He also said it’s going to be a problem for many Bay Staters who frequent the bars and clubs in Providence.
“I think you’ll see an increase in the amount of marijuana arrests in the state of Rhode Island, specifically in the city of Providence,“ Neill said. “You have a lot of younger drivers traveling from the state of Massachusetts to the Providence nightclubs.“
In Rhode Island, possessing an ounce or less of marijuana in most cases is a misdemeanor but it can be a felony depending on circumstances.
The new Massachusetts law goes into effect on Friday.
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Reader Reactions
The Rhode Island Police are looking to make money for the state on pot they have lots to do .Why bother us in Boston with a bag of grass.I think that this is the first step in a long road not to screw up lives and put someone in the local paper for a joint or so.Take a look at the world leave us weed smokers alone and focus on Bullcrap in ur RhodeIsland towns.
If the state police really want to do some good, they should lobby to ban alcohol. There is clearly no other drug that has caused more harm and yet it remains legal. It’s like comparing the harm a 50 caliber machine gun can cause with a sling shot. They can’t prevent a drunk driver who has been arrested 8 times from killing somebody, but at least they can arrest someones grandmother who is using marijuana to control pain from the cancer. get a clue
Decriminalization in Mass. is going to “increase the number of arrests in RI” and “hurts the war on drugs”? Please spare me this nonsense. Marijuana use is NOT going to increease because of the Mass. law. The RI State Police need to dig their heads out of the sand and stop repeating these disproven arguments. The reason why marijuana prohibition has been such a failure is that it does not enjoy popular support. If a vote were to be held today I’m sure the PEOPLE would not only decriminalize marijuana they would legalize it!
It’s time to face reality folks. Prohibition has never worked, period. The “War on Drugs” has been a miserable failure when you look at all of money that has been spent and the results that have been achieved (or not achieved). America’s jails are now overflowing with non violent drug offenders, many for something as benign as pot (check the facts before you lump in pot with crack and heroin). Time to rethink the entire policy and change the way America operates. Hats off to Massachusetts for being so forward thinking. Sleep tight RI, big government is still alive and well.
“the on-going state and federal war on drugs is hurt by new possession laws like the one in Massachusetts”
..that would be a good thing! The federal ban on marijuana sales is *directly* responsible for the drug dealers we see in our schools and neighborhoods. The more we can do to end this incredibly expensive and destructive policy the better!
It’s just illogical to believe that you can ban the legal sale of a product with enormous public demand and not expect to have criminals move into our communities to fill the unmet demand. If this policy had *any* logic behind it at all our country would be free of marijuana by now and the drug dealers that sell it. But as we can see, it clearly is not!
This policy is responsible for more than 5,000 brutal murders in Mexico this year alone, and for more than 2,000 marijuana-related arrests that occur here every single *day*. Our children deserve better than this!
When we end the prohibition and license reputable businesses to produce and sell marijuana to adults we’ll eliminate drug dealers from our communities and severely curtail minors from being able to access the stuff. What are we waiting for?!!
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