Pubdate: Wed, 06 Nov 2002
Source: Deseret News (UT)
Copyright: 2002 Deseret News Publishing Corp.
Contact:  http://www.desnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/124
Author: Associated Press
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
Bookmark: (Cannabis),http://www.mapinc.org/find?162 (Nevadans for 
Responsible Law Enforcement)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?163 (Question 9 (NV)

BALLOT QUESTIONS: DRUG REFORM MEASURES SHOT DOWN IN 3 STATES

In a sharp rebuff of the drug-reform movement, Nevada voters refused 
Tuesday to make their state the first to legalize possession of marijuana, 
and reform measures also failed in Ohio and Arizona.

Federal and state law enforcement officials teamed up to oppose the Nevada 
measure, which would have legalized possession of up to 3 ounces of pot.

The Arizona proposal would have downgraded small-scale marijuana possession 
to the equivalent of a traffic violation, while the Ohio measure would have 
forced judges to order treatment instead of jail for many drug offenders.

In Florida, voters approved a sweeping ban on smoking in restaurants and 
virtually all other workplaces. "It's going to save lives," said Martin 
Larsen, chairman of the Smoke-Free for Health campaign.

Smokers also were targeted in Arizona, where voters approved an increase in 
cigarette taxes from 58 cents to $1.18 per pack.

In Tennessee and North Dakota, voters approved creation of a state lottery. 
That is a milestone for Tennessee, which had joined Utah and Hawaii as the 
only states without legalized gambling.

The results in Nevada, Arizona and Ohio were a blow for a national alliance 
of drug reformers, who vowed to keep up their fight in future elections.

"For the first time, we were up against the full weight of the federal 
government," said Bruce Mirkin, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project. 
"I never for a moment believed this was going to be easy."

In recent elections, voters in several states had approved use of marijuana 
for medical purposes, and treatment-instead-of-jail proposals were approved 
in Arizona in 1996 and California two years ago. But in Ohio, Gov. Robert 
Taft and most of the criminal justice establishment campaigned vigorously 
against the proposal.

In Nevada, authorities warned that legalizing pot could wreak havoc, and 
some voters agreed.

"It would be a mess," said Peaches Johnson of Las Vegas. "It's permission 
to get high."

In South Dakota, voters heeded the urgings of politicians and judges, and 
defeated a proposal - backed by drug reformers and others - that would have 
allowed defendants to tell juries they could disregard a law if they don't 
like it.

In Massachusetts, voters agreed to eliminate bilingual education and 
replace it with a one-year English-immersion program. However, Colorado 
voters defeated a virtually identical proposal.

Both measures had financial backing from wealthy California entrepreneur 
Ron Unz, who contends that bilingual education traps foreign-born students 
in classrooms where they master neither their native language nor English.

In Florida, Republican Gov. Jeb Bush won re-election but suffered a defeat 
elsewhere on the ballot as voters approved an initiative backed by many 
Democrats that would limit class size in public schools. Bush said the 
limits - ranging from 18 in the lowest grades to 25 in high school - would 
force an unaffordable increase in school spending.

On the financial front, elected officials in Arkansas and Massachusetts 
were relieved by the defeat of proposals to eliminate major taxes. The 
Arkansas measure would have abolished the sales tax on food and medicine; 
the initiative in Massachusetts would have repealed the state income tax, 
drying up a $9 billion funding source.

Warned of drastically higher taxes, voters in Oregon rejected a proposal to 
create the nation's first comprehensive health care plan. The estimated 
price tag was to give every citizen full medical insurance was $19 billion 
a year.

Oregon voters also rejected a proposal to make their state the first in the 
nation to require labels on genetically modified foods.

Among many measures on local ballots were the proposed secession of the San 
Fernando Valley and Hollywood from Los Angeles. Voters rejected the 
breakaway bids by wide margins, keeping their city the nation's second largest.

In other results:

- - Colorado and New Mexico voters rejected a proposed state holiday in honor 
of labor leader Cesar Chavez.

- - California and Colorado voters defeated proposals to allow voter 
registration on Election Day.

- - North Dakotans defeated a proposed package of financial incentives aimed 
at encouraging young adults to stay in the state.

- - Oklahomans voted to ban cockfighting. The state had been one of three, 
along with Louisiana and New Mexico, that still allowed it.

- - Arkansas voters rejected a proposal to make certain acts of animal 
cruelty a felony. Opponents of the measure warned that farmers, hunters and 
fishermen could face unwarranted accusations of cruelty.

- - Californians approved a proposal sponsored by actor Arnold 
Schwarzenegger's proposal to earmark a half-billion dollars annually for 
after-school programs.
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D