STATES DECIDE ON DRUG, LOTTERY, LANGUAGE ISSUES

In a rebuff to the drug-reform movement, Ohio voters on Tuesday defeated a
proposal to force judges to order treatment instead of jail for many drug
offenders.

Massachusetts voters scrapped bilingual education in favor of an
English-immersion program.

In Tennessee, partial returns showed a proposed state lottery winning with
roughly 60 percent support. Approval would leave Utah and Hawaii as the
only states without legalized gambling.

In all, there were 202 propositions on ballots in 40 states.

The outcome on bilingual education in Massachusetts was a victory for
California businessman Ron Unz, who funded the initiative and a similar
question on Colorado's ballot. Under the proposal, students would be taught
all classes in English, though a teacher could use a student's native
language to help explain a complex theory.

The Ohio drug-treatment measure was one of many that were placed on state
ballots through citizen petition drives and were bitterly opposed by
elected officials. These included proposals to legalize marijuana in
Nevada, scrap the income tax in Massachusetts and split Los Angeles into
three cities.

Defeat of the Ohio measure was a setback for a national alliance of drug
reformers, including billionaire New York financier George Soros.

Voters approved treatment-instead-of-jail proposals 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,
and it was soundly defeated.

The reform movement also helped get places on the ballot for the Nevada
marijuana proposal and a similar measure that would decriminalize the
possession of small amounts of marijuana in Arizona.

The federal drug czar, John Walters, came to both states to denounce the
measures.

In South Dakota, politicians and judges campaigned against a daring
proposal - backed by drug reformers, libertarians and others - that would
allow defendants to tell juries they can disregard a law if they don't like
it. Known as jury nullification, and forbidden in every state, the practice
would let people accused of crimes argue that a law has no merit or should
not apply to their situation.

On the financial front, elected officials in Arkansas and Massachusetts
warned of dire results if voters decided to eliminate major taxes.

The Arkansas measure would abolish the sales tax on food and medicine,
costing state and local governments more than $200 million in revenue.

The initiative in Massachusetts, proposing repeal of the 5.3 percent state
income tax, would dry up a $9 billion funding source that represents 40
percent of the state budget. Herman B. Leonard, a professor at Harvard's
Kennedy School of Government, called it the state's most radical ballot
initiative in 50 years, though the Legislature would have the option of
defying it.

Taxes in Oregon would climb if voters there approve the nation's first
comprehensive health care plan, which would give every citizen full medical
insurance. The plan - opposed by the insurance and health care industries -
would cost an estimated $19 billion a year, to be financed by higher income
taxes and a new payroll tax.