From: tuco@frontiernet.net   
      
   Non-binding pot question wins handily   
   By Joel Beck/ jbeck@cnc.com   
   Wednesday, November 10, 2004   
      
   If you ask Steve Epstein, sooner or later someone at the State House has to   
   start paying attention to the public demand for the reformation of   
   Massachusetts' marijuana laws.   
      
      
      
        He hopes state Sen. Thomas McGee, who represents Swampscott, is one of   
   those listening and Epstein also hopes the third time is the charm.   
      
      
      
        Lost in the shuffle of yet another controversial photo finish in the   
   presidential race was the North Shore's passage - by a wide margin - of   
   Epstein's non-binding ballot question seeking to decriminalize marijuana,   
   with punishment for possession being more like getting a traffic ticket.   
      
      
      
        As a Georgetown attorney and a longtime marijuana reform advocate,   
   Epstein had placed the question on ballots in the 2nd Essex and 3rd Essex   
   and Middlesex Senate districts, asking voters whether they'd like their   
   legislators to reconsider the state's marijuana laws.   
      
      
      
        Swampscott voters were in favor by more than a 2-1 margin, giving the   
   question, which did not specify any amount of marijuana, 4,884 votes to   
   2,416 against.   
      
      
      
        This being the third time a marijuana reformation question has been   
   approved on a Massachusetts ballot, Epstein hopes this will be the time   
   legislators put the wheels in motion.   
      
      
      
         "My prediction was pretty accurate," says Epstein. "This is the third   
   time we've been doing this and once again both Senate districts voted   
   overwhelmingly in favor."   
      
      
      
        Overwhelming indeed. In the 2nd Essex Senate District, which includes   
   Danvers, Peabody, Salem, Topsfield and Beverly, the question passed by more   
   than a 2-to-1 margin, with nearly 50,000 voting in favor and roughly 22,000   
   voting against.   
      
      
      
        Meanwhile, in the 3rd Essex and Middlesex district, which includes   
   Saugus, Marblehead, Swampscott, Melrose, Lynn and Nahant, more than 37,000   
   people voted in favor with a little more than 18,000 voting against.   
      
      
      
        It remains to be seen whether marijuana reform will become a reality   
   any time in Massachusetts' immediate future, but at the very least, Epstein   
   likes the numbers he saw on election night.   
      
      
      
        "Any candidate would be glad to have our margin of victory," says   
   Epstein. "I don't know when the members of the House and Senate have to   
   start paying attention to this. But I was telling the Republicans at my   
   polling places (Tuesday) that they would do a lot better if they would adopt   
   my position on marijuana."   
      
      
      
        Perhaps, but considering that only two candidates actually responded to   
   a questionnaire that Epstein had sent out prior to the election asking   
   whether they would support marijuana reform, changing the state's policy may   
   be easier said than done.   
      
      
      
        That said, Epstein knows the hard part may just be getting started.   
      
      
      
        "We'll be in communication (with all the legislators)," says Epstein.   
   "We'll be in touch with all of them about hopefully getting them to sign on   
   to a bill."   
   _________________   
   Suggestion.  Start listening to your constituants or end up like the state   
   representatives in Vermont who were sent packing.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)