DRUG AMENDMENT EFFORT ENDS

TALLAHASSEE -- Organizers of a ballot initiative that would have steered
some nonviolent drug offenders to treatment instead of to prison have
abandoned their effort, complaining that Florida's legal process is
dysfunctional. The Campaign for New Drug Policies, the national group
behind the measure, said it will pursue similar ballot initiatives in
Michigan and Ohio for the November election. The group hopes to put the
measure before Florida voters in November 2004.

The proposed amendment to Florida's Constitution, called the Right to
Treatment and Rehabilitation for Nonviolent Drug Offenses, would give
certain first- and second-time drug offenders the right to treatment. It
wouldn't apply to people arrested for drug dealing or violent crimes. In
some cases, those with histories of violence or drug dealing could get
treatment instead of prison if their previous conviction was at least 5
years old.

Gov. Jeb Bush had opposed the measure, calling it a step toward drug
legalization. State agencies, including the Department of Corrections and
the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, had been organizing opposition.

The effort was part of an organized, nationwide push to undo some of
America's hard-line drug laws. It is bankrolled by three wealthy
businessmen: New York financier George Soros, Cleveland insurance executive
Peter Lewis and John Sperling of Arizona, founder of the for-profit
University of Phoenix.

The group had collected about 300,000 signatures but needed another 488,000
to get the measure on the ballot this fall. It also had to get the ballot
language approved by the Florida Supreme Court. The high court heard the
case in December but has yet to rule. The organizers said the delay makes
it too difficult to collect the needed signatures in time.