LOCAL BALLOT QUESTIONS DRAW BIG TURNOUTS

Voters in many suburban communities turned out in droves Tuesday to weigh
in on divisive local ballot initiatives, including measures to legalize
medicinal marijuana use, free up more money for school construction, and
prohibit smoking in restaurants.

Voters in two Middlesex County districts decided in a non-binding
initiative to make the possession of less than an ounce of marijuana a
civil matter. In the 6th Middlesex Representative District, which makes up
much of Framingham, the measure won 68 percent of the votes.

Tallies aren't complete in the 2d Middlesex Senatorial District, which
includes Winchester, Medford, and parts of Somerville and Woburn, but
voters appear poised to approve an identical measure, tallying 65 percent
of the vote with more than half of the district's precincts reporting.

In the 4th Essex Representative District, 62 percent of voters in Ipswich,
Manchester-by-the-Sea, and several more North Shore towns backed an
intitiative asking state Representative Bradford Hill to introduce
legislation to make possession of a small amount of marijuana a civil
violation. The measure would also require authorities to hold minors
charged with possession until they are released to their parents or brought
before a judge.

And in the 4th Barnstable Representative District, where officials have
tabulated 82 percent of the ballots cast, 63 percent of voters supported a
measure calling on state Representative Shirley Gomes to vote in favor of a
bill to allow patients with certain diseases to keep small amounts of
marijuana for medicinal use.