Court Rules Medical Marijuana Ballot Question Needs To Be Re-Written
BOSTON (AP) — The state Supreme Judicial Court has ruled in favor of medical marijuana opponents who say the likely November ballot question on the issue is misleading.
Attorney General Martha Coakley and state Secretary William Galvin's offices must now re-write the "yes" section of the ballot question in light of Thursday's ruling by Associate Justice Robert J. Cordy. The re-written section must be submitted to the court for review.
Cordy, however, ruled against the opponents' request to modify the term "medical marijuana" saying other states have a legal standard for using it.
Under state law, more than 68,000 certified voters must sign an initial petition to place an issue on the November ballot, with not more than one-quarter of all the signatures coming from the same county. If the Legislature does not take up the issue, an additional 11,000-plus signatures are needed by June 19th to put it on the ballot.
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