VOTERS OK DRUG MEASURE

FRAMINGHAM -- Voters in north Framingham precincts approved a
non-binding ballot initiative Tuesday that asks their state
representative to support decriminalizing marijuana.

More than 67 percent of voters in the 6th Middlesex District said
possession of marijuana should be a civil infraction, like a speeding
ticket, punishable by only a fine.

"Clearly, this is the will of the people," said a pleased Jim
Pillsbury, the sponsor of Question 9. "That's a pretty big statement."

Ballot initiatives to decriminalize marijuana, or allow those with
certain illnesses to use the drug, appeared in only four voting
districts in the state.

Debby Blumer, the winner in the 6th Middlesex race, said before the
election she would not support the question. Now, with the votes in,
she said she will reconsider.

"I don't know how to read that vote right now," Blumer said
yesterday. "I will commit to looking into this and talking to people."

Blumer said residents she talked to in the past two weeks of
campaigning support reducing the penalty for possessing small amounts
of pot to small fines.

Massachusetts law says possessing marijuana is a misdemeanor
punishable by up to one year in prison and a $1,000 fine.

The ballot question does not require Blumer to follow its mandate,
but simply asks her to consider the will of the people if lawmakers
address the pot question.

Even though Question 9 has no enforcement power, voters still found
the idea worth their time.

According to voting results, of the 17,470 people casting ballots in
precincts 1-7, 10, 11 and 13, more than 14,000 of those voters
answered the question.

Any decision to decriminalize marijuana needs to be well thought out,
so it does not imply the state condones use of the drug, Blumer said.

Pillsbury said the ultimate goal is to have the punishment fit the crime.

"It's one small step toward what I feel is a discussion about drug
policy in this state and this country," he said. "Cannabis is not the
problem in society."

Pillsbury was convicted for selling marijuana in 1985 but did not
serve any jail time.

According to Pillsbury, 11,000 people in Massachusetts were arrested
on marijuana charges last year -- charges he said could ruin their
lives.

Pillsbury believes his ballot initiative passed because people raised
in the 1960s and 1970s are tired of laws being enforced on what he
calls a " benign issue."

"Marijuana is not as bad as `Reefer Madness' makes it out to be,"
Pillsbury said, citing the cult movie critics say wildly exaggerated
the effects of the drug.