Advocates buoyed by voter support

Having won popular support for their ballot measures among area voters in Tuesday's election, advocates say they will press ahead with concrete plans to file legislation on behalf of their causes.

Voters in the western suburbs weighed in on nonbinding initiatives this week on several issues, signaling their support for the decriminalization of marijuana possession, creating an independent commission to oversee legislative redistricting, and strengthening the rights of both parents in custody cases.

The measures were approved in every community in the Globe West coverage area where they appeared on the ballot.

Whitney Taylor, executive director of the Drug Policy Forum of Massachusetts, said her organization will use that support to petition the Legislature to reduce penalties for marijuana possession. Opponents say marijuana use is often the first step to more serious addiction, but supporters of decriminalization say it is a waste of money to prosecute low-level offenses.

Drug decriminalization activists also asked some voters last week to weigh in on legalizing medicinal marijuana. That measure passed in both Bellingham and Milford. "The people are ahead of the politicians," Taylor said.

Similar measures were approved by voters in 2000 and 2002.

State Representative James Vallee, a Franklin Democrat whose district supported decriminalizing marijuana in Tuesday's election, said Wednesday that he had not seen the results yet so he could not comment extensively on them. But he said he remained willing to speak with advocates.

In the past, Vallee, cochairman of the Legislature's Criminal Justice Committee, has said he did not see any significant reason why penalties for marijuana possession should be reduced.

Voters in several area communities approved a measure that would place responsibility for legislative redistricting with an independent commission in lieu of politically motivated legislators.

Pamela Wilmot, executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts, a watchdog group that sponsored the measure, said the next step is to solidify the details of the commission and the criteria for creating new legislative districts. Common Cause hopes to file a bill to begin moving its plan through the legislative process, which could culminate with a binding vote in 2008, Wilmot said.

State Representative Ruth Balser, a Newton Democrat whose district approved the redistricting proposal, said she looks forward to working with Common Cause. The measure also was approved by voters in Waltham, Wayland, Lincoln, Sudbury, Dover, Medfield, and Needham.

The most widespread ballot question at the polls Tuesday asked whether residents wanted to ensure that the rights of both parents are considered in child custody cases. Ned Holstein, president of the group Fathers and Families, said his organization believes that children of divorce are better off when they have contact with both parents.

Holstein said his group agrees that a judge should be able to award sole custody if one parent is deemed unfit or there are other reasons why joint custody is impossible. Their hope, he said, is to shift the judge's "starting point" in custody cases.

"Right now, they go into this thinking, 'I've got to choose one parent here,' " said Holstein, saying his group intends to file legislation in the next session. The measure passed in Marlborough, Natick, Wellesley, and Northborough.

In addition, voters in Waltham approved a measure allowing parents to legally leave unwanted newborns in designated places.