On the eve of Election Day, Massachusetts police and law-enforcement groups say that voters should reject a ballot item that would decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, the Boston Globe reported Oct. 31.

"Drug use, drug abuse, and drug sales are synonymous with other types of criminal activity," said Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis. "Where you find drug dealers, you also find guns and violence." Davis said decriminalizing marijuana "gives those dealers a loophole to enterprise while punishing the neighborhoods where they're going to do business."

Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley, Berkshire District Attorney David Capeless, and Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe, and state Attorney General Martha Coakley all have stated their opposition to Question 2, which would decriminalize possession of up to an ounce of marijuana and cap punishment for offenders at a $100 fine.

"Question 2 is really the 'drug dealer's protection act,'" Conley said.

The measure would not change current penalties for selling marijuana, however. The Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy said that three-quarters of those arrested for marijuana possession are under age 24 and currently face the prospect of a permanent criminal record if convicted of minor possession.