Call it a new category of user fee: a $300 fine for using marijuana on town-owned or -controlled property could be coming soon if Town Meeting voters agree to it May 2. The selectmen have placed an article in the Annual Town Meeting warrant asking voters to approve a new bylaw forbidding the use of marijuana on any “street, sidewalk, public way, footway, passageway, stairs, bridge, park, playground, beach, recreation area, boat landing, public building, schoolhouse, school grounds, cemetery, parking lot, or any area owned by or under control of the town; or in or upon any bus or other passenger conveyance operated by a common carrier; or in any place accessible to the public.” The article sets a fine of $300 for each offense and stipulates that any penalty imposed under the bylaw shall be in addition to any civil penalty imposed under state law. It deals only with the use of marijuana, not with possession, which falls under a new state law that went into effect in January.
The proposed bylaw stipulates that enforcement could be by criminal indictment or complaint or by noncriminal disposition. A criminal complaint would normally result in a court hearing, whereas a civil complaint could be settled in the town clerk’s office. The town already has a bylaw regarding the consumption of alcoholic beverages in public places, the violation of which results in a court date.
Town Administrator Tim Bragan said that the proposed bylaw would make it possible to ticket offenders and levy fines, which he said has been the source of some confusion since the state law was changed in January to make possession of an ounce or less of marijuana a civil, rather than criminal, offense. Under current state law, the penalty for possession of an ounce or less is $100 and forfeiture of the drug. Offenders under the age of 18 must also complete a drug-awareness program within a year of the offense. At the polls in November, Harvard residents overwhelmingly supported the change in state law by a vote of 2,469 to 916, with 86 blank ballots.
Finance Director Lorraine Leonard told the Finance Committee last week that the town recently took in its first $100 check under the new state law, but said there was considerable confusion about who should take payment. The man came to pay his fine after being issued a state police citation on Route 2 and told to make payment in Harvard, Leonard said. But when he showed up at Town Hall, there was no procedure in place to receive the money. Normally fines would be paid to the town clerk, but Leonard was unsure about the process in this case, she said, so she sent the man to the police station and consulted the District Court, finally accepting the check when the man returned to Town Hall with his fine still unpaid.
Harvard’s proposed bylaw closely follows a model ordinance written by Attorney General Martha Coakley. A handful of Massachusetts cities and towns have already enacted, some have rejected, and many are considering enacting laws to prohibit public use of marijuana.
