Potheads in MA refuse to pay citations ... (article)

We may earn a small commission from affiliate links and paid advertisements. Terms

Cashizslick

!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!
Tokers blow smoke at pot fines - BostonHerald.com

Tokers blow smoke at pot fines
By Laurel J. Sweet | Monday, November 22, 2010 | Home - BostonHerald.com | Local Coverage
Potheads who’ve found the grass is greener under the state’s mellowed-out marijuana law have racked up as much as $64,500 in unpaid fines in Boston alone, thumbing their noses at hundreds of citations that cops have written up, but authorities are powerless to enforce.

Now the City Council wants to smoke out the stoner scofflaws.

“Everybody’s laughing in the face of this thing. We need to find a way to tighten up the loopholes that are allowing precious dollars to escape,” said Councilor Stephen J. Murphy, chairman of the committee on public safety.

Of the more than 760 $100 fines written up in Boston this year as of Nov. 4, police list 645 as unpaid with no way of accounting if any were cleared up at courts or by drop-ins to City Hall, a Herald review found.


Murphy has formally requested a public hearing to examine the police department’s struggle to enforce fines for possession of an ounce or less of cannabis. He’s also mulling measures such as seeking the Legislature’s permission to collect overdue dope debts through tax liens — such as the city does now with unpaid trash and snow removal fines under its so-called “Green Ticket Law.”

But Bill Downing, director of the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition, insists the new right to toke should not have a price tag.

“There’s this concept called freedom. The people of Massachusetts voted to tell the cops to leave these people alone. If they don’t pay their tickets, who cares? What, are you going to float city and town budgets on the backs of the pot-smoking public?”

Presently, a pot-possession ticket is supposed to be paid at police headquarters in 21 days. This year, only 52 tokers made the deadline. Police credited another 63 as being paid off after the due date, including one through South Boston District Court.

Boston police spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said, “The police commissioner feels our responsibility is to enforce the law the way it currently stands.”

Cheryl Sibley, chief administrator of Boston Municipal Court, said there is “very limited recourse” for the courts to force payment if potheads don’t request a hearing to fight the ticket and police don’t seek a civil contempt hearing to enforce it.

But the cops and the courts both complain that there is no formal process for the exchange of records, so compliance is hard to track.

But among the locations where Hub cops whacked weed whiffers this year were Boston Latin Academy and Charlestown High, their records show. Murphy suggests that indicates a problem that is not being addressed under the law as it stands.

“My own opinion is, we never should have decriminalized it,” Murphy said. “The question now is what can we develop by way of a system that would allow us to enforce the civil side of it.’’

Article URL: Tokers blow smoke at pot fines - BostonHerald.com
Related Articles:
Cops: Gang war sparked JP shootout
/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1298288
Cops powerless to stop squeegee guys
/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1296377

Death probed in Brighton
/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1295838



Contact us | Print advertising | Online advertising | Herald history | News tips | Electronic edition | Browser upgrade | Home delivery | Herald wireless
$ave on Boston Herald Home Delivery

Jobs with Herald Media

For back copy information and more information on other collectible copies please call 617-426-3000 Ext. 7714. Click here for Celtics, Patriots and Red Sox back copies



© Copyright by the Boston Herald and Herald Media.
No portion of BostonHerald.com or its content may be reproduced without the owner's written permission. Privacy Commitment

0.024816 : cached : owl.heraldinteractive.com
Loc1297999_2010-11-23 06:36:17_text_1_0_0
 
lmao

why cant they just suspend the drivers license like they do for unpaid traffic tickets?
“My own opinion is, we never should have decriminalized it,” Murphy said.
so this guy would rather have 760 cases clogging up the court system for possession of under an ounce? is it worth $64,500 to try 760 cases?
 
Stuff like booting cars/suspending licenses/etc simply doesn't work in new york or boston... the average person doesn't own a car nor drive. So, who cares if my license is revoked? i take a cab everywhere any way.

can't attach to their property either, as odds are they are renters as well.

it's a different type of living that you and I who aren't in the city take for granted.
 
Stuff like booting cars/suspending licenses/etc simply doesn't work in new york or boston... the average person doesn't own a car nor drive. So, who cares if my license is revoked? i take a cab everywhere any way.

can't attach to their property either, as odds are they are renters as well.

it's a different type of living that you and I who aren't in the city take for granted.

Good point. I know a few people down in San Fransisco that have never taken drivers ed or gotten a license. They just have State ID cards.
 
They shouldn't even fine for low level possession. I don't even smoke, and think its a waste of resources that MA even fines people for less than an ounce.
 
Back
Top