VOTERS DUMP POT PROPOSITION 2-TO-1 IN EARLY VOTE COUNTING

Marijuana proponents were taking a hard hit from voters who were rejecting
the proposition that not only would have legalized the drug for adults, but
would have opened jail doors and urged restitution for marijuana offenders.

With about half the precincts reporting, the measure was failing by a nearly
2-to-1 ratio. But supporters hadn't given up victory.

"We knew it'd be uphill," said Al Anders, chairman of Free Hemp in Alaska.
"At least we got the chance to educate voters that the Ravin decision is
still the law, and all these small marijuana busts are unconstitutional."

Anders was referring to a 1975 Alaska Supreme Court opinion that found
marijuana so innocuous that the government had no business pursuing adults
for possessing limited amounts in private.

Some voters, like accountant Peter Barber, 29, said they likely would have
voted for a stripped down hemp legalization law. But this initiative went
too far."They went for the moon," Barber said."I don't see pot being any
different than tobacco or alcohol. But going back in time, letting people
out of jail and paying restitution just doesn't make sense."

Voter Randy Parker shared that view.

"The proposal was very poorly written," Parker said. "To let people out of
prison is wrong. To reimburse people who committed crimes is wrong."

Others, like Pat Alcantra, a 70-year-old grandmother from Palmer, said
marijuana should be regulated like tobacco and alcohol.

"Liquor is so much worse," she said. "If a man gets drunk, he beats his
wife. If he smokes marijuana, he eats her dinner. (Pot) should be legalized
and controlled."

The initiative would have removed all criminal and civil penalties for
adults at least 18 years old who grow, sell or possess marijuana.

But it would do more than just legalize cannabis. It would free people in
jail for marijuana crimes that are no longer illegal and convene an advisory
panel to study the feasibility of making restitution to them. It would
destroy all criminal records of marijuana offenders. It would prohibit
marijuana testing in some employment circumstances.

Passage of the initiative would not make a difference to federal law
enforcement officials. Marijuana would remain an illegal substance under
federal law.

Opponents of the measure argued that the initiative would send the wrong
message to kids, make marijuana more readily available and lead to an
increase in abuse of hard drugs.

"I have kids and I hate to think of my kids turning 18 and getting a hold of
something like that," said Kara Denevan, 29, of Palmer.

The No on 5 campaign had been outspent more than five to one, despite a
$50,000 contribution from the campaign of U.S. Sen. Frank Murkowski,
R-Anchorage, in late October. BP Exploration and Phillips Alaska gave the
campaign $5,000 apiece.

Proponents fell into a number of camps. Free Hemp in Alaska, the most
visible of the three Anchorage-based groups working for passage of Prop. 5,
has focused on what it said were the victims of marijuana prohibition.
Anders said the ban harshly punishes marijuana users and growers and keeps
harmless people in "concrete cages" at great public expense.

It reported in its most recent campaign disclosure report a $50,000
contribution from an Indiana philanthropist and $25,000 in contributions
from a man in San Francisco.

Hemp 2000, which splintered from Free Hemp early in the campaign, is
concentrating on the industrial uses of hemp, a nonintoxicating form of
cannabis. Hemp 2000 supporters said hemp would thrive in Mat-Su fields and
could be made into lumber, fuel, carpet, plastic and more.

Hemp 2000 attracted some huge contributions, including $65,000 from an
Arizona art dealer and a company in London that gave $25,000.

Yet another pro-Prop. 5 group, Alaskans for Privacy, was comprised mainly of
lawyers who defended the notion of privacy embodied in the Ravin decision.

Its contributions include $45,000 from the National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws and $29,000 from a former Microsoft millionaire.

Two years ago voters decided 59 percent to 41 percent to legalize medical
marijuana for sick people.