A judge on the state's highest court today ordered a change in a planned ballot question to legalize medical marijuana in order to better describe the effect of a "yes" vote to approve the question.
In a six-page decision, state Supreme Judicial Court Judge Robert J. Cordy required Attorney General Martha Coakley and Secretary of State William Galvin to alter the statement on the ballot that a voter would check in favor of the question. Cordy said the so-called "yes vote" statement needs to show that it would authorize a system to produce and distribute marijuana, either at centers in the state or at qualifying patients' homes. The statement would also appear in a state guide sent to voters in the mail.
Right now, according to Cordy, the statement only reflects that a yes vote would eliminate state penalties for the use of marijuana for certain medical conditions. The statement does not mention that it would authorize the establishment of marijuana dispensaries, for example.
"Given this omission, I cannot say that the statement fairly 'describes the effect of a yes .. vote,' Cordy wrote. "Consequently, an order shall enter requiring the attorney general and the secretary to amend the statement to better reflect the dual nature of the initiative."
