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Activists Hoping To Legalize Marijuana In Mass.

BOSTON (AP) — Pro-marijuana activists are hoping to put a question on the state's 2016 ballot that would legalize pot in Massachusetts.

The group Bay State Repeal said it filed the necessary paperwork earlier this week to get the process rolling.

Group spokesman Bill Downing said the goal is to create the simplest and least restrictive plan to lift the state's prohibition on marijuana while still barring non-medical distribution to children.

Downing said the group plans to test different versions of the initiative with non-binding referendum questions next year in some state House and Senate districts.

One possible version would call on the state to tax and regulate cannabis like alcohol.

Washington and Colorado legalized the recreational use of marijuana by adults over 21 last year and authorized its sale at state-licensed stores.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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