Voters in a string of suburban Massachusetts towns approved non-binding ballot questions calling for decriminalization of marijuana use and possession of small amounts of the drug, the Quincy Patriot Ledger reported Nov. 8.

In the towns of Plymouth, Duxbury, Kingston and Halifax, a resolution calling on local lawmakers to make possession of less than an ounce of marijuana a civil infraction and not a criminal offense passed by a margin of roughly 2-1. In Milton, a similar majority of voters said that medical use of marijuana should be allowed.

The same voters, on the other hand, defeated a measure that called for wine to be sold in supermarkets.

John Leonard, a spokesperson for the Drug Policy Forum, which sponsored the ballot questions, said he hoped the vote got the attention of state Sen. Therese Murray (D-Plymouth), chair of the Senate's Ways and Means Committee. Leonard added that the group has run similar referendum campaigns successfully in about a third of Massachusetts towns, and that the group is hoping for legislative action under incoming Gov. Deval Patrick's administration.