GREENFIELD — Greenfield might find itself a little greener today. Parts of changes to marijuana’s legal status in Massachusetts are now in effect, with the blessing of the voters that passed Question 4 on Nov. 8, legalizing the drug.
But local law enforcement officials are warning people not to break out the bongs too quickly — growing and possessing the drug in your home may be legal, but consuming it in public, on town property or in places where smoking cigarettes is illegal are not.
“You’re going to get the same response you get now,” if you light up in broad daylight on Main Street, said Greenfield Police Chief Robert Haigh Jr. “I’d hate to say just do what you want — that’s just not true.”
The drug’s legal status is only for adults over the age of 21. Haigh said it’s fine to have it on your person, but be aware of the possession limits and places where it is still prohibited. Public consumption is prohibited all together. Adults can carry up to an ounce outside their home, but over two ounces is against the law.
“You’re still looking at possession issues, for people under 21, and you still can’t sell it,” he said. Retail sales won’t start until 2018, and that date could still be pushed back by the Legislature. “It doesn’t open the doors on that. People just need to educate themselves on what you can and can’t do, and not listen to what someone told them. It’s up to each person to follow the law.”
Even cultivation comes with limits, Haigh said. Residents can grow up to 12 plants at home and possess up to 10 ounces of marijuana. They can also trade marijuana with others in small amounts, and purchasing paraphernalia for marijuana use and cultivation will be legal.
Haigh said landlords will also have control over whether to allow its use on their property.
Driving under the influence of drugs, including marijuana, is currently illegal in Massachusetts, and it’ll stay that way under the new law. Despite that, it’s been difficult to prove impairment by marijuana as a factor in traffic violations or crashes, since there’s no reliable way to measure it.
Police officers can be specially trained to detect marijuana impairment in drivers, but the training is time-consuming and expensive. Currently, only Athol has such an officer in the Franklin County area.
Marijuana in a vehicle must be in a sealed, unopened package, or in the trunk or a lockable glove box, according to the new law.
Haigh said he hopes the law will be rolled out slowly and gradually to allow adjustments and adaptations to be made, and it appears the Legislature agrees. State Senate President Stanley Rosenberg expressed interest in making one such adjustment this week — raising the legal age from 21 to 25 — and officials have bounced around pushing back the start of some of the law’s other provisions.
“I’d ask people, whenever there’s something new, they want to just go for it. But we have to educate ourselves soundly. If all of us do that, we’ll move forward with this new, complicated law,” Haigh said.
Marijuana is still illegal on the federal level, and some are concerned the incoming Trump administration may seek to dial back efforts states have made to legalize it.
You can reach Tom Relihan at: 413-772-0261, ext. 264
or trelihan@recorder.com
On Twitter, @RecorderTom