BALLOT SUCCESS IN STATE DIDN'T SPREAD

Five years ago, Proposition 36 supporters hailed its approval as a
resounding rejection of the nation's war on drugs and a harbinger for
similar laws around the country.

Since then, only one state - Hawaii - has adopted a comparable law
mandating treatment instead of jail for drug offenders.

"We would like to see it picked up in other states, but we don't
necessarily have millions on hand to run voter initiatives, and not
every state has voter initiatives," said Glenn Backes, who founded
the Drug Policy Alliance's capital office and recently left the organization.

After the California victory, voters in three other states either
rejected measures similar to Proposition 36 or legal problems kept
the proposals off the ballot.

By 2004, the next election cycle, the initiative's wealthy backers
had switched their focus from the war on drugs to the war in Iraq and
the defeat of President Bush.

Billionaires George Soros and Peter Lewis - two of the three who
financed the Proposition 36 campaign - donated about $23 million each
in 2004 to unsuccessful campaigns to unseat Bush, according to the
Center for Responsive Politics.

That made them two of the largest individual contributors in the last
presidential campaign but left the drug law campaigns without the
millions in donations that had kept the movement alive.

Soros and Lewis - along with billionaire John Sperling - had
bankrolled Proposition 36 in 2000, a similar measure in Arizona in
1998 and medical marijuana initiatives in California and other states
in previous years.

From 1996 to 2001, they won 17 of 19 statewide elections for medical
marijuana and reduced drug sentences. But the tide shifted in 2002.

The opposition became more aggressive, and the billionaire-backed
campaigns lost three out of four statewide initiatives.

Arizona voters defeated a marijuana decriminalization proposal,
Nevada voters rejected a marijuana legalization campaign and Ohio
voters delivered a 2-to-1 defeat to a Proposition 36-style law.

Legal challenges kept similar measures off the Florida and Michigan ballots.

Hawaii was the only exception, and its Legislature - rather than the
voters - adopted a law based on Proposition 36.

The only significant electoral victory came in Washington, D.C.
Voters overwhelmingly adopted a sweeping change patterned after
Proposition 36 in 2002, but the courts struck it down. The other
electoral successes came on local, non-binding referendums.

Since then, Dave Fratello, Proposition 36 co-author, said the Drug
Policy Alliance has focused mostly on state legislatures, including California.

"There's a lot to be proud of here," Fratello said. "But we have been
taking a lot of hits from people who opposed Proposition 36 from day one."

The organization has actively lobbied legislators to defeat changes
in the initiative and has contributed $117,900 to California
legislators since 2002.

Of that, $13,700 went to four Democratic members of the Assembly
Public Safety Committee, where an effort to rewrite Proposition 36
stalled last year.

Sen. Denise Ducheny, author of Senate Bill 803, said she's pushing
for the changes again this year and is optimistic she will get them.

"There is a commitment to move the bill ... so it could go into
effect in time for next year's budget," the San Diego Democrat said.
"Those of us who want to see this program work want to see the
funding continued, but with accountability and with an expanded
treatment option."