MIKE: THIS IS THE YIN AND YANG OF LEGAL MARIJUANA IN MASSACHUSETTS.
ON ONE SIDE, PEOPLE LIKE 56-YEAR-OLD ELLEN MOORE.
>> IT’S LIKE TAKING A DRINK.
NOTHING.
I DIDN’T BLOW U MIKE: ON THE OTHER SIDE, LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS.
>> I FEAR THIS WILL EVENTUALLY LEAD TO REALLY TO THE DUMBING DOWN OF THE NEXT GENERATIO >> LET’S TALK TO CARL SAGAN.
AND LET’S TALK TO A FE DIFFERENT OTHER PEOPLE WHO HAVE SMOKED MARIJUANA, AND I DON’ SEE THEM DUMB.
MIKE: ELLEN MOORE IS A WEB DEVELOPER WITH FIBROMYALGIA WHO USES MARIJUANA MORNING, NOON, AND NIGH >> THIS IS MY LATEST BUTTER.
SO THAT’S WHAT I COOK WITH THESE ARE ABOUT 50 MILLIGRAMS A PIECE.
THEY’RE STRON BUT I USE THEM AT NIGHT TO HELP SLEEP.
MIKE: MOORE CALLS IT MEDICINE.
>> IT’S CHANGED MY LIFE.
IT’S SAVED ME IN A LOT OF WAYS.
MIKE: BUT SHE ALSO USES MARIJUANA FOR FUN.
>> IT’S RELAXING.
WHEN I GET TOGETHER WITH FRIENDS, WE DON’T HAVE FIGHTS OR DISAGREEMENTS.
IT’S A NICE RELAXING TIME.
MIKE: WHILE MOORE WORRIES THERE WON’T BE ENOUGH MARIJUANA TO GO AROUND WHEN RECREATIONAL POT SHOPS OPEN IN JULY, SHE WELCOMES THE MOVE TOWARD DE-STIGMATIZING THE DRUG.
IS MASSACHUSETTS READY FOR THIS?
>> YES, I THINK WE’VE DELAYED LONG ENOUGH.
WE’VE BEEN IN THE DARK AGES.
WE’VE BEEN IN PROHIBITION.
THERE ARE BIGGER PROBLEMS OUT THERE THAN CANNABIS.
MIKE: DON’T TELL THAT TO NORWOOD POLICE CHIEF WILLIAM BROOKS AND WALPOLE POLICE CHIEF JOHN CARMICHAEL.
OUR CONCERNS WITH EDIBLES IS THEY RESEMBLE CANDY.
MIKE: THE NUMBER OF OPERATING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF DRUGS ARRESTS DOUBLED IN WALPOLE IN 2017 IN THE 12 MONTHS FOLLOWING THE LEGALIZATION OF MARIJUANA.
THE GOVERNOR APPOINTED CARMICHAEL TO THE STATE’S CANNABIS ADVISORY BOARD, WHICH MAKES RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE CANNABIS CONTROL COMMISSIO >> OUR BIGGEST ISSUES ON THE LAW
ENFORCEMENT SIDE ARE GOING TO DRUGS-DRIVING, OUI, INCREASED ACCESS AND AVAILABILITY TO OUR YOUTH, AND OTHER ISSUES SUCH AS DIVERSION.
>> PEOPLE, I THINK, SOMETIMES THINK THE POLICE ARE OVERREACTING WHEN WE SAY THESE THINGS, BUT IT’S CLEARLY GOING TO CAUSE FATALITIES.
THIS CLEARLY WILL CAUSE DEATHS.
MIKE: THE POLICE CHIEFS POINT OUT THAT JUST BECAUSE MARIJUANA IS LEGAL DOESN’T MEAN IT’S A FREE-FOR-ALL.
THERE ARE LOTS OF RULES AND SOME OF THEM ARE SIMILAR TO ALCOHOL.
YOU CAN’T CONSUME RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA IN PUBLIC, AND Y CAN’T HAVE AN OPEN CONTAINER OF IT IN YOUR CAR.
BOTH COULD RESULT IN CIVIL FINES.
>> MARIJUANA ACTIVITY, IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT, NOW CAN FALL INTO A WHOLE RANGE OF CATEGORIES THAT OFFICERS HAVE TO THINK ABOUT.
IT CAN BE MEDICAL.
IT CAN BE LEGAL.
IT CAN BE DECRIMINALIZED OR CIVI IT COULD BE CRIMINAL.
>> I THINK EVERYBODY IS GOING TO BE O I THINK ANY KIND OF PANIC ON THE PART OF LAW ENFORCEMENT IS GOING LARGELY TO THE FACT THAT THEY’RE BEING TOLD THAT YOU CAN NO
LONGER DO SOMETHING THAT YOU’VE BEEN HISTORICALLY ABLE TO DO AND THAT YOUR DISCRETION IS BEING RESTRICTED, AND THE POLICE DON’ LIKE THAT.
MIKE: TOM NOLAN IS A RETIRED BOSTON POLICE LIEUTENANT AND A CRIMINOLOGY PROFESSOR AT MERRIMACK COLLEGE.
>> AS A PROFESSOR, I BELIEVE YES ON 4.
MIKE: HE APPEARED IN ADS SUPPORTING QUESTION 4, LEGALIZING RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA BECAUSE HE BELIEVES TOO OFTEN POLICE HAVE DISPROPORTIONATELY TARGETED
PEOPLE OF COLOR FOR MARIJUANA POSSESSION.
>> I DON’T SMOKE MARIJUANA.
I DON’T USE IT MYSELF.
I’M NOT ADVOCATING THAT PEOPLE GO OUT AND DO SO I’M SIMPLY TAKING THE PERSPECTIVE THAT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT HAS REALLY BEEN INCOMPATIBLE WITH THE MISSION OF
LAW ENFORCEMENT.
>> CERTAINLY, JUST LIKE WE SAW WITH ME UNDER DECRIMINALIZATIO THERE IS THAT OPPORTUNITY FOR PEOPLE TO TREATED UNFAIRLY, PEOPLE TO BE CHARGED INCORRECTLY.
MIKE: SHANEL LINDSAY SPEAKS FROM EXPERIENCE.
>> WHAT WAS A NORMAL TRAFFIC STOP QUICKLY ESCALATED.
MIKE: IT WAS THE SUMMER OF 201 MASSACHUSETTS VOTED TO DECRIMINALIZE MARIJUANA TWO YEARS EARLIER, MAKING POSSESSION OF AN OUNCE OR LESS PUNISHABLE WITH A $100 CIVIL FINE.
>> THE POLICE OFFICER SAW A SMALL AMOUNT OF CANNABIS IN MY PURSE THAT WAS OPEN, AND HE IMMEDIATELY DEMANDED THAT I GET OUT OF THE CAR.
HE STARTED SEARCHING MY CA HE CAME ACROSS A SMALL JAR IN THE BACKSEAT OF MY CAR, AND THEN HE ARRESTED ME.
MIKE: LINDSAY IS AN ATTORNEY W AT THE TIME WAS WORKING AS A BUSINESS LITIGATOR.
>> I TOLD THEM THAT THEY WERE VIOLATING MY CIVIL RIGHTS AT THAT POINT.
THAT I SHOULD JUST BE GETTING A TICKET, BUT I WAS IN HANDCUFFS AND ABOUT TO BE ARRAIGNED.
AND THE POLICE OFFICER CAME BACK, AND HE SAID IT WAS 13 GRAM AND I SAID I KNOW IT WAS.
AND THEN HE TOOK THE HANDCUFFS OFF OF ME, AND THEY SAID YOU’RE FREE TO GO.
MIKE: LINDSAY WHO NOW RUNS A MARIJUANA BUSINESS SELLING A DEVICE THAT CONVERTS RAW CANNABIS INTO ITS ACTIVE FORM CONCERNED WHAT HAPPENED TO HER COULD HAPPEN TO OTHERS
>> THERE IS ALWAYS A CONCERN THAT POLICE COULD OVERSTEP THEIR BOUNDS.
MIKE: WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, ARE YOU BEING ALARMISTS ON THIS ISSUE?
>> WHAT MOTIVE WOULD EITHER OF US HAVE TO TELL YOU SOMETHING WE DIDN’T THINK WAS TRUE THE PEOPLE ON THE OTHER SIDE WHO ARE GOING TO MAKE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS SELLING DRUGS TO PEOPLE
WHO WOULD NOT HAVE USED IT OTHERWISE HAVE A LOT TO GAIN HERE.
ED: HERE IS ANOTHER THING TO KEEP IN MIND.
IT CAN ALSO BE DIFFICULT FOR POLICE TO PROVE SOMEONE’S DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF MARIJUANA BECAUSE THERE’S NO BREATHALYZER OR EQUIVALENT FOR CANNABIS.
MARIA: NUMBERS FROM THE REGISTRY OF MOTOR VEHICLES SHOW STATEWIDE OUI DRUG ARRESTS HAVE GONE UP SINCE RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA WAS LEGALIZED, BUT