BILLIONAIRES SET TO PUSH DRUG REFORM

SAN FRANCISCO -- The three billionaires whose money helped persuade
voters in California and four other states to soften drug laws now
plan to take their case nationwide.

``Politics is perception, and the perception up to this point is that
voters want tougher and tougher drug policies,'' said Bill Zimmerman,
executive director of the Campaign for New Drug Policies. ``The votes
we saw (Tuesday) night represent a sea change in that
perception.''

With their vote on Proposition 36, Californians decided to send
thousands of first- and second-time drug users to community treatment
programs instead of jail. Colorado and Nevada approved using marijuana
for medical purposes, and Oregon and Utah restricted government
seizures of drug offenders' property.

``It shows that the war on drugs is slowly being strangled and
eventually the federal politicians are going to have to face up to
their 20-year failure,'' University of Phoenix founder John Sperling
said Wednesday.

Sperling, New York philanthropist George Soros and Ohio insurance
executive Peter Lewis have spent millions the last four years backing
ballot initiatives they say collectively amount to a referendum on the
drug war. Their successes include other medical marijuana laws in
Alaska, Arizona, California, Maine, Oregon and Washington.

Two states -- Massachusetts and Alaska -- rejected more sweeping drug
initiatives Tuesday. But opponents fear that the billionaires' deep
pockets will allow them to engineer more election successes.

``I think the initiative process is becoming dangerous,'' said Calvina
Fay, executive director of the Drug Free America Foundation, which
advocates a zero-tolerance approach to drugs. ``The very wealthy who
have the money to do it are buying public policy all over the country.''

The drug war itself was not on the ballot in any state, Fay
stressed.

``I don't think that the voters perceive that they're voting to end
the drug war,'' she said. ``They don't see the big picture.''

Proponents say the campaign's focus may shift to Middle America
next.

``Michigan and Ohio are probably the places where you have the largest
number of people affected, and you would send the loudest message,''
said Dave Fratello, campaign manager for the California initiative.
``And they have the initiative process.''

Proposition 36 will require treatment instead of incarceration for the
estimated 36,000 California drug users convicted each year for using
or possessing drugs for the first or second time.

California, the nation's most populous state, led the way in jailing
drug users two decades ago, and now jails more drug offenders per
capita than any other state.

The three philanthropists contributed $6 million to $7 million toward
changing the nation's drug policies during the 1997-98 election cycle,
said Ethan Nadelmann, Soros' drug policy adviser. They spent $1.2
million each on the California initiative.