BOSTON — Four months after marijuana became legal in Massachusetts, people are still getting arrested for pot-related offenses, and police are refusing to give back confiscated drugs, according to court records and interviews with law enforcement officials.

The voter-approved law allows adults 21 and older to possess up to an ounce of marijuana in public and up to 10 ounces at home, and to grow up to a dozen plants on their property. The law also allows retail sales, but pot shops aren’t expected to open until the middle of next year. 

Until then, marijuana buyers and sellers still face arrest.

Essex County courts arraigned at least 41 people on marijuana-related charges from Dec. 15, when pot became legal to possess and use, through April 4, according to the Essex County District Attorney’s office.

Charges ranged from possession with intent to distribute a Class D substance, a misdemeanor that carries up to two years in prison for a first offense, to a felony trafficking charge that can lead to 2 to 15 years in prison.

Most charges were heard in Lawrence District Court, which serves a region including Andover, North Andover and Methuen. Police in those communities sent at least 16 marijuana-related charges to the DA for prosecution, according to the district attorney’s office.

Lynn District Court, which serves an area including Marblehead and Swampscott, has arraigned at least nine people on marijuana charges since Dec. 15. Newburyport and Salem district courts each have seen five cases, while Haverhill’s court had three and Peabody’s had two.

No arraignments or summonses were issued for possession of marijuana above the legal limit, court records show. Several charges involved juveniles.

The Suffolk County District Attorney’s office — whose jurisdiction includes courts in Boston, Chelsea, Winthrop and Revere — has had 66 arraignments for distribution of a Class D substance since Dec. 15, court records show.

Meanwhile, State Police have charged 76 people with pot-related offenses since Dec. 15 — including 51 arrests and 25 summonses to appear in court, according to spokesman Dave Procopio.

At least 13 charges were for possession, others were for illegal sales.

State Police also made 33 arrests for operating a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana from Dec. 15 to Feb. 24, according to its latest data. 

Not targeting users

It’s unclear whether the number of marijuana-related arrests are higher than before legalization. There are no statewide figures for marijuana-related arrests since Dec. 15, and police and prosecutors were unable to provide comparisons.

Overall, arrests for marijuana possession have declined since 2008, when the state’s voters decriminalized pot possession under an ounce.

There were 616 arrests for possession in 2014 — a nearly 93 percent drop from the 8,695 arrests made in 2008, according to the Executive Office of Security and Public Safety.

Interviews with police officials suggest officers haven’t aggressively targeted marijuana users since the drug was legalized last fall.

But they aren’t looking the other way, either.

“Obviously, we have a more pressing issue with opioid abuse, but if we get complaints about people selling marijuana we put some efforts into it,” said Lawrence Police Chief James Fitzpatrick. “Mostly it’s complaint-driven, or if we stumble across something.”

Lawrence police have made six arrests for marijuana distribution since Dec. 15 — including Scottie Urena, 19, of Methuen, who was arrested March 6 and charged with intent to distribute, according to police reports. Urena had 1.1 ounces of marijuana packaged for distribution, police said.

Officers in some departments are not returning confiscated marijuana — even if it’s within the legal amount allowed by law. Police chiefs are quick to note that marijuana is still classified as a Class D controlled substance that is illegal to possess under federal law.

“We can’t take marijuana and give it back, because that would be distributing,” said Lt. Edward Guy, a spokesman for Andover police. “We would be breaking federal law.”

Guy said the new law doesn’t explain what police should do with confiscated pot.

“These things were never thought out, and that’s part of the problem,” he said. 

Federal conflict

Others states that have legalized recreational pot are wrestling with the same issue, in some cases sparking court challenges.

In Colorado, where marijuana has been legal since 2014, the state’s Supreme Court ruled in January that law enforcement officers cannot be forced to return marijuana to defendants, even after they’ve been acquitted of pot-related crimes.

Jim Borghesani, spokesman for the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, which pushed for legalization in Massachusetts, said police shouldn’t be taking it away, unless it’s confiscated as part of a traffic stop in which marijuana was found not to be stored in a closed compartment, as the law requires.

“I frankly don’t see how they have any legal justification for confiscating and not giving back marijuana, if it’s under the legal limit,” he said. “They’re not federal agents.” 

Borghesani faults the state’s political leaders for pushing back the date to allow retail pot sales by six months, which is confusing users as well as law enforcement.

“We’re in this period now where marijuana is legal to use but not purchase,” he said. “I think a lot of the black market sales will disappear once legal sales get underway.”

Borghesani urges police to use discretion until marijuana shops are up and running.

“They shouldn’t be arresting or prosecuting people for something that is legal,” he said.

Newburyport Marshal Mark Murray, who oversees the city’s police and fire departments, said black market sales will continue even after pot shops open next year.

“There will still be money to be made by illegal dealers, so we’ll continue to do what we’ve always done to crack down on that,” he said. “That’s not going to change.”

New rules

Murray said police chiefs are seeking guidance from Beacon Hill, where lawmakers are debating a package of regulations needed to control retail pot sales.

“Hopefully we’ll get guidance from our political leaders on how to deal with it,” he said.

Marijuana advocates point out that the Essex County cities where arrests have been made are generally low-income communities with large groups of minorities.

Shanel Lindsay, a lawyer and marijuana advocate, said there should be clearer guidelines and more training for police on how to deal with legal marijuana.

“Otherwise, you’re going to have cities and towns interpreting the law differently,” she said. “And unfortunately that often disproportionately affects communities of color.”

A 2015 report by the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts said state crime data reveals that African-Americans were arrested for pot possession at a rate 3.3 times higher than whites — even though use is similar across racial and ethnic groups.

Records obtained from local police and courts don’t indicate the race or ethnicity of offenders.

Mark Leahy, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of Police Chiefs, said he expects police to keep making arrests for street sales of marijuana, deferring to prosecutors about whether to press charges.

“We don’t have any choice but to enforce the law as it exists and let the courts decide what to do,” he said. “We can’t turn our backs on it.”

Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhi.com.