Race for State Rep:

GARLICK, O'LEARY TAKE 'WAIT AND SEE' APPROACH TO POT

Dover -- Voters heading to the polls in Dover, Needham and parts of
Medfield on election day will have a new, nonbinding ballot question
to ponder: should legislation be passed that would allow the state to
regulate and tax the cultivation and sale of marijuana to adults?

After the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition collected more than
200 signatures last spring, it was announced in late September that
the question would appear on the ballot not as a referendum, but
strictly as a voter opinion poll.

Despite this, both Democrat Denise Garlick and Republican John
O'Leary, who are running for the House of Representatives seat in the
13th Norfolk District being vacated by state Rep. Lida Harkins, are
taking a wait-and-see approach before making any decisions on the question.

"Based on the nature of this question, where what they're trying to
do is get people's views on it, I'm not going to really comment on
the content on the legislation," said O'Leary. "I think it's a nice
way to make use of democracy to find out where people stand on things
early. So rather than influence an outcome on that, I'll be
interested in seeing what the results are myself."

Garlick expressed some concern over potential legalization of
marijuana, but did not come out for, or against it.

"This ballot referendum question has only recently been added to the
ballots in Needham, Dover and Medfield," said Garlick. "As a
professional registered nurse, I am deeply concerned about the many
complexities associated with this referendum question."

According to Steven S. Epstein, a founder and an officer at MassCann,
questions like this have appeared on ballots in the past, which
eventually led to Question 2 in 2008.

"Between 2000 and 2006, we ran a large number of questions involving
the decriminalization of marijuana, and in 2004 and 2006 they were
all getting up to 63 percent of the vote," said Epstein. "The
legislature had ample opportunity to decriminalize marijuana on their
own terms, and in their pride they chose not to. Money came into the
state and we got Question 2."

Bill H2929, which is modeled after the Alcohol Beverage Control Act,
would create the Cannabis Control Authority (similar to the Alcoholic
Beverage Commission) which would, according to a press release from
MassCann, "oversee the issuance of cultivation licenses, processing
licenses, trade licenses, retail licenses, import licenses, research
licenses and farmer-processor-retailer licenses."

The bill would also create licensing fees and excise taxes on
marijuana sold in retail stores.

While this current question will only show how voters feel about
marijuana legislation, Epstein said elected officials don't
necessarily have to comply either way with the result of the ballot question.

"They don't necessarily have to do anything, but it tells them how
their constituents that bothered to vote on Nov. 2 feel about the
general proposition of legalizing, taxing and regulating marijuana
for adults," said Epstein. "It can have a powerful impression on some
politicians, and have no impression on other politicians ... I can't
[make a prediction], but I can say this about the incumbents, they
don't want anything to do with it. They think it's going to harm them."

For O'Leary, any decision he makes on cannabis legislation will have
to take in several factors other than the ballot question alone.

"I'd like to see what the results are, and also I definitely want to
take the pulse on something like that from a lot of different sources
before coming to any real conclusions," said O'Leary.

Garlick also expressed interest in further research into the topic,
but also declined to say if she'll take any cues from voters on the question.

"Research is still evolving," said Garlick. "I am interested in what
the voters of my district will vote on this question, and the further
information and education and research we will all need to make our
best decision."