JUDGE PERMITS WASHINGTON TO COUNT VOTE ON MARIJUANA

WASHINGTON -- A Federal judge ruled on Friday that the board of elections
and ethics for the District of Columbia may count and announce the results
of a referendum on the use of marijuana for medical purposes that was on
the ballot in November.

District of Columbia residents voted last November on Initiative 59, a
measure to allow chronically ill people like those suffering from AIDS,
cancer and glaucoma, to use marijuana without facing criminal prosecution.
Under current law, possession of marijuana is a misdemeanor charge,
punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of $1,000.

But just before the vote, Congress approved an amendment to the District
appropriations bill sponsored by Representative Bob Barr, a conservative
Republican from Georgia, that prohibited the city from using money to
conduct a ballot initiative that "seeks to legalize or otherwise reduce
penalties" for drug possession, use or distribution.

Election Officials maintained that counting the results of a referendum was
part of a ballot initiative, and so the vote was never tabulated.

But in his ruling today, Judge Richard W. Roberts wrote that though the
Barr amendment precluded use of the money for Election Day activities
related to the referendum, it did not prevent "counting, announcing and
certifying the results of the vote on Initiative 59 thereafter." Such a
restriction, he held, would have been a violation of the First Amendment
right of free speech.

The decision did not address the issue of whether the ballot proposal would
become law if approved. That question would have to be decided by Congress.

Mayor Anthony A. Williams said today that he would instruct the board of
elections and ethics to begin counting the ballots at "the earliest
possible moment." He praised the decision as a step toward autonomy for the
city.

"Today's court decision is a clear and decisive win for self-government in
the District of Columbia," Mr. Williams said. "The court recognized that
our citizens, like citizens in every other state with a referendum, have a
right to determine their own laws and set their future. At long last, the
voters will be heard on this public health issue."

The American Civil Liberties Union, arguing that the citizens of the
nation's capital had the right to decide political issues, filed suit in
October 1998 asking Judge Roberts to order city officials to certify
results of the measure.

A survey of 763 voters leaving the polls, financed by Americans for Medical
Rights, found that 69 percent of those who have voted on the ballot issue
said they had voted for it.

Five states have approved referendums legalizing the medical use of
marijuana: Alaska, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.