IN REFERENDUMS, AMERICANS PUSH GOVERNMENT BACK

NEW YORK---Americans have spoken out on the basics: life, death and
taxes.

And their message to the government is simple---leave US
alone.

Voters casting ballots Tuesday on 235 statewide initiatives said they
did not want the governtnent to intrude in their lives, whether to
limit abortions, deny medicinal marijuana to the seriously ill, or
tell people where they could gamble.

Some also said "no" to one of the most divisive political issues of
the '90s: affirmative action. Washington state, following a similar
move by California two years ago, approved a measure to ban racial or
sex preferences in government hiring and contracts and college admissions.

'They are clearly saying, 'We want to treat everybody equally,' " said
Ward Connerly, the California business leader whose organization
spearheaded passage of that state's measure and helped plan and
finance the Washington effort.

John Carlson, the conservative political commentator who led the
campaign, said voters wanted to "look beyond what makes us different."

Election Day also brought big victories to a group whose previous
election gains were stalled in courts: supporters of medical marijuana.

Voters in Alaska, Arizona, Nevada and Washington state approved the
medical use of mariju.ana, which advocates say can help ease pain and
nausea.

Nevada passed a constitutional amendment approving its use pending a
second "yes" vote in 200(). Washington's endorsement came a year after
voters vetoed a broader plan that some say would have left the door
open to legalizing other drugs.

"We worked hard,'' said Rob Killian, the Seattle physician who
sponsored the Washington measure, to bring back a very tightly worded,
specific medical marijuana initiative. It's a model for the rest of
the country."

Arizona voters reaffirmed their 1996 approval of a plan that makes
legal the prescribing of medical marijuana and some other illegal
drugs for seriously ill patients.

The Alaskan measure will shield users from most state and locals laws
that forbid possession while protecting doctors who recommend its use.

In Oregon, where two-thirds of people vote by absentee ballot, early
returns indicated medical marijuana would pass there, too, but the
vote on a similar initiative in Washington, D.C., remained unknown.
Election officials opted to keep results under cover because Congress,
which controls the capital's budget, opposes legalization and cut
funding for the initiative after it appeared on the ballot.

Gambling supporters also were dealt a whllling hand on Election
Day.

Indian tribes in California won broad voter approval to continue
running their casinos unhampered by state contfOi This marks ''the
first time that wealthy business interests have not been allowed to
sacrifice the lives of Indians and future Indians to satisfy their
greed," said Anthony Pico, chairman of the Viejas tribe in San Diego
County.

Missouri voters approved lucrative slot machines on the so-called
boats in moats. At issue was a 1997 state S upreme Court decision that
the Missouri constitution did not permit slots on the boats, which are
tethered in manmade lagoons, and that such games of chance could be
played only on the main channels of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.

Hunting and animal rights activists could both call themselves
winners.

Cockfights were banned in Missouri and Arizona. California approved a ban
on body-gripping steel traps to capture fur-bearing animals and outlawed
the sale or export of horses intended to be slaughtered for human
consumDtion. But Alaskans rejected a ban on wolf snares, Ohioans turned
back a ban on the hunting of mourning doves and Minneesota became only the
second state in the nation to pass constitutional protections for hunting
and fishing.

Voters also dealt with two issues that have constantly been in the
courts---abortion and the right to die.

Washington and Colorado rejected proposals to restrict the late-term
procedure known by opponents as "partialbirth abortions," but Colorado
approved parental notification for minors seeking abortions.

Michigan, meanwhile, rejected a plan that would have made the
state---home to Dr. Jack Kevorkian---the second in the nation with
iegalized physician-assisted suicide. Oregon remains the only state
where doctors can prescribe lethal doses.

Gay rights advocates suffered setbacks from the voters.

Hawaii moved closer to banning same-sex marriage, giving state
lawmakers the go-ahead to write a prohibitive law. Alaskans voted a
gay-marriage ban into their constitUtiona.

South Carolina, meanwhile, erased the state's 103year-old
constitutional ban on interracial marriage.

Taxes figured prominently in several states.

South Dakotans rejected a plan to prevent property tax resenues from
financing schools, Nebraskans vetoed a proposal to limit the amount of
money state and local governments could raise through taxes, and
Coloradans said "no" income-tax credit for parents of school-age
children, whether in public or private school or taught at home.

Massachusetts and Arizona agreed to give political candidates
substantial public money if they voluntarily limit their spending and
raise certain small contributions.

The Denver Broncos will get a new football stadium. The San Diego
Padres will get a new ballpark. And Cincinnati voters removed an
obstacle to a new stadium.

And Iowa and Florida became the first states in 22 years to pass
measures acknowledging women's equality while New Hampshire retained
all male pronouns in its constitution---despite having a female governor.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry