cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Referendum May Draw Students to Polls 





Marijuana Referendum May Draw Students to Polls 
Posted by FoM on March 27, 2000 at 23:24:24 PT
By T. Michael Burke
Source: MassLive News
Voters tomorrow could make Amherst the first town in the state to approve a referendum urging police to relax enforcement of marijuana-possession laws. The nonbinding question also asks state and national representatives to work toward repealing the prohibition on marijuana. 
Advocates hope an affirmative vote will mark the first step in a statewide and eventually nationwide movement to decriminalize marijuana  —  even if little change occurs locally. Regardless of the vote, marijuana possession will still be illegal in Amherst, and police will likely not change their policy. "Any opinion, poll or recommendation doesn't supersede the law. We uphold the law," Police Chief Charles L. Scherpa said recently. However, the referendum question may affect tomorrow's selectman election if, as expected, students turn out to vote in record numbers. While collecting the needed signatures to place the referendum question on the ballot, marijuana advocates signed up some 1,500 new voters, mostly students. To put this number in perspective, only 2,079 people voted in last year's town election. Selectman Hill Boss is running for a third three-year term against town meeting member Anne Awad, director of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health's western regional office. AmherstPublished: Monday, March 27, 2000© 2000 Union-NewsMASSCANN's Web Sitehttp://www.masscann.org/Selectmen Balk at Non-Binding Referendum http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread3758.shtmlCannabisNews Articles on Referendums:http://www.google.com/search?num=10&q=cannabisnews+Referendum+site:www.cannabisnews.com
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Comment #3 posted by MMMM on March 29, 2000 at 11:23:03 PT
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..and the children shall lead the way...
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Comment #2 posted by mungojelly on March 29, 2000 at 06:19:39 PT:
"first town in the state"
"first town in the state" -- I like the sound of that. (What will the second town be?) "Any opinion, poll or recommendation doesn't supersede the law." -- Yeah, who needs that democracy stuff anyway. 
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on March 28, 2000 at 08:03:08 PT
Nonbinding Vote Today in Amherst 
Nonbinding Vote Today in Amherst Boston.comhttp://www.boston.com/By Associated Press, 3/28/2000 AMHERST, Mass. (AP) Residents in this western Massachusetts college town are voting today on legalizing marijuana. A coalition of campus and other groups gathered 3,000 signatures on petitions to place the nonbinding question on today's town ballot. The question urges state and federal legislators to repeal laws prohibiting the possession and use of marijuana, and urges town police to de-emphasize enforcement of marijuana possession laws. The polls are open from noon to 8 p.m. It isn't the first time that Amherst, which is home to the University of Massachusetts, Amherst College and Hampshire College, has sought to relax marijuana laws. In 1976, the Amherst Town Meeting endorsed the legalization of marijuana. However, the state Legislature took no action on its suggestion. 
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