BIAS, POT LAWS GAIN MOMENTUM

Two potent political ideas born in California, repeal of affirmative
action laws and medicinal use of marijuana, spread to other Western
states Tuesday as voters made hundreds of new laws.

In Washington state, nearly two-thirds of voters approved Initiative
200, which abolishes racial and gender preferences in university
admissions and government contracting and hiring. That followed the
lead of California, where Proposition 209 in 1996 pioneered the
backlash against affirmative action laws.

Although the ban doesn't take effect for 30 days, the University of
Washington decided to get a jump on implementing it and announced an
immediate end to preferences.

Twenty-four percent of blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans in this
fall's freshman class wouldn't have been admitted had the repeal been
in place.

Voters in Washington, Alaska, Nevada and Oregon passed initiatives to
allow pot smoking as therapy for serious illnesses. Arizonans defeated
a proposal to gut their 1996 law allowing such therapy. That was the
same year California's Proposition 215 allowed doctors to prescribe
pot to relieve patients' pain. Courts have blocked the laws in both
states.

Exit polls in Colorado and Washington, D.C., showed overwhelming
support for similar ballot questions that had been voided by legal
challenges before the election.

Americans for Medical Rights, which led the campaigns, says the
victories make medical marijuana ''a majority issue.''

White House drug czar Barry McCaffrey, though, issued a statement
cautioning that the election results won't alter marijuana's illegal
status under federal law.

In other initiatives, voters in Michigan, home of assisted-suicide
crusader Jack Kevorkian, rejected a measure to legalize the practice.
Hawaiians and Alaskans voted in favor of banning same-sex marriage.
Coloradans approved requiring parental notification for minor girls
who seek abortion.

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady