Marijuana Policy Project

BELCHERTOWN — Police Chief Francis R. Fox Jr. is asking residents who attend the May 11 Town Meeting to enact bylaws that would establish fines for smoking marijuana or drinking alcohol in public.

A third recommendation from Fox will be to strengthen the legal tools for dealing with absentee landlords and tenants at what turn into nuisance households.

Fox has spoken out often about his disappointment that voters statewide chose in November do decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, something he still calls "a gateway drug."

He mentioned this change in the law for dealing with less than an ounce of marijuana when he first presented the selectmen with his idea of a bylaw to penalize smoking it at public places.

Fox said there currently is no bylaw prohibiting smoking marijuana in public and he believes that if police observe someone smoking it at the Belchertown Fair or other public gathering, there should be a stronger penalty than the $100 fine for possession of a small amount.

In March the Springfield City Council voted in favor of an ordinance that allows police to issue fines of $100 to $300 on top of the existing state fine to someone caught smoking marijuana in a park or other public place.

Selectmen Michael J. Reardon, Ronald E. Aponte and Gerald A. Grasso have spoken in support of the proposed bylaw setting penalties for public marijuana consumption, while Selectman James A. Barry has said, "I don't think it is necessary."

Reardon said he voted in November for reducing the severity for someone found with an ounce or less of marijuana but believes the proposal to establish a $300 fine for smoking it in public makes sense.

"As a town, we should be setting the principle that, although it is decriminalized, it should not be done on public property," Reardon said.

Grasso said there are plenty of situations in which town bylaws can be stronger than state law on the same issue, and he thinks this is a good instance for Belchertown have a stronger bylaw.

Fox said his proposed bylaw dealing with having an open container of alcohol in a public place would strengthen the bylaw adopted in 1985 and authorize police to make arrests when they observe public drinking.