Marijuana Question Leads Monday Election Ballot

With no contested races in Monday's annual town elections, it will be a no-stress weekend for Philip Crawford, Arthur Bourque, Bonnie Celi, Brian Charville, Robert Calamari, Janine Rodrigues-Saldanha, and Gerald Shulman. Those eight candidates on the ballot already know they've won their seats.

The only drama left for the town's 9,000-plus voters regards the referendum question. Should Lynnfield ban the operation of any marijuana establishment, including a marijuana cultivator, testing facility, product manufacturer, retailer, or any other type of marijuana-related business. It does not include marijuana used for medical purposes.

If Lynnfield's neighbor is any indication, the answer will be yes to a ban and those residents hoping to buy in town will have to look elsewhere for their weed. On Tuesday Reading voted to ban marijuana sales 2,130 to 961. In the November state-wide ballot, legalized marijuana passed but it lost in both Reading and Lynnfield.

For the record Crawford is running for the Board of Selectmen, Bourque for Moderator, Celi for Assessors, Charville for Planning Board, Hayman for School Committee, Calamari for Library Trustee, Rodrigues-Saldanha for Library Trustee, and Shulman for Housing Authority.

Another potentially hot issue was removed from the April 24 Town Meeting agenda when National Development announced that it was withdrawing its proposal for a movie theater at MarketStreet.