High time cops weeded out illegal behavior

This is the day that Massachusetts potheads have been waiting for — and mothers have been dreading.

The streets of Boston will essentially soon turn into a plume of weed smoke thanks to the change in Bay State laws effective today where people can buy pot legally.

I recently attended the Red Sox championship parade with my son’s school. While the 5-year-olds looked on in amazement at their favorite baseball players, a huge number of sports fans smoked weed freely in the streets.

What used to be an event appropriate for children now seems to have faded. Imagine, if we are so lucky to enjoy another parade, how much more pot smoke are youngsters going to suck in?

It also means parents will be forced to educate our children about marijuana and drugs. Kids used to be able to live in their naïve worlds and not know about addictive drugs, but now we will have no choice but to take on this conversation at a much younger age.

Since medical marijuana became legal, cops haven’t enforced the laws about smoking in public. They are supposed to issue fines, but they don’t. They should start before our streets become any more packed with potheads lighting a joint on the Boston Common. Cops have a responsibility to the community to protect it from this drug that is already running rampant.

The mayor should also look to increasing the fine for public pot smoking violators. You now get the same fine for smoking a cigarette or a joint in the park. It’s a $100 fine. They should not be treated equally. The city should hike the fine for smoking weed in public to $200.

Mayor Marty Walsh said that’s not off the table. “We are continuing to evaluate the impacts of recreational marijuana in Boston and fines and fees, among other issues, are part of the larger conversation,” he has said. Good!

The city needs to educate smokers as well. Signage around the city explaining the rules and laws is a must. We already know with tobacco that the campaigns to teach kids the dangers of smoking actually work.

Just because a bunch of liberals on Beacon Hill wanted to line the state piggy bank with extra cash in the form of pot taxes doesn’t mean communities can’t fight back.

This mom is saying: Boston, it’s time to step up!