By Ethan Walshe
Managing Editor
Westford Academy principal Jim Antonelli is currently working in conjunction with Massachusetts state representative James Arciero to pass a new piece of legislation that would result in harsher punishments for student drivers caught in possession of illicit substances like marijuana or alcohol.
The new bill would call for minors aged sixteen and one-half to eighteen years caught in possession of marijuana or alcohol to pay a $1000 fine and to have their license suspended pending a minimum of three months of completion of driving instruction.
Antonelli says that over the past five years he has seen numerous counts of students arriving at school under the influence. He believes that the use of marijuana in particular has increased drastically in recent years and that this is largely due to the decriminalization of marijuana in 2009 which made possession of small amounts of the class-B substance a misdemeanor resulting in a citation and a $100 fine.
“I firmly believe that the marijuana use has increased tremendously in the community and I think that there needs to be some kind of corrective action” said Antonelli.
Thus far, the legislation has been drafted by Rep. Arciero and has made its way to transportation committee chairman William Strauss.
Antonelli hopes that the hefty fine and loss of license will act as a deterrent for any minors who might be involved in these kind of activities. In addition, the loss of license is a large inconvenience for anyone.
“If you lose your license until you pay the fine and you complete the three month course, you’re not driving, and it’s an inconvenience to you and your family and that’s a tough thing to swallow” said Antonelli.
At this stage, Antonllie gives the bill a fifty percent chance of being passed. He believes this because Massachusetts citizens voted for the decriminalization of marijuana previously.
“[The decriminalization of marijuana was] a strong message from the voters within Massachusetts that they don’t feel as though marijuana has any impact on the population. They think it’s a very harmless drug…I don’t believe it’s going to go very far …[but] I think there will be adjustments to the level of the fine” said Antonelli.
It is yet to be seen if the bill will be vetted out.
