VOTERS BACK MEDICAL MARIJUANA IN 3 STATES

Propositions: Also Among 235 Statewide Ballot Measures, Michigan Refuses To
Allow Assisted Suicide And Maine Doesn't Ban Topless Lawn-Mowing

The movement to make marijuana available for sick people picked up
steam Tuesday with voters in Nevada, Arizona and Washington state
approving ballot measures to legalize the drug under certain
circumstances.

Nevada passed a constitutional amendment approving medical marijuana,
pending a second "yes" vote in 2000. Washington's approval came one
year after voters turned down a broader measure that would have left
the door open to legalizing other drugs.

Arizonans rejected an alternative "go-slow" law in which legislators
urged a delay until the federal government approves the drug. Their
vote, by a margin of of 57% to 43%, reaffirms their 1996 approval of
medical marijuana.

"I think they voted that way because they are angry at the Legislature
for gutting what they did two years ago," said John Buttrick of The
People Have Spoken, the group that led the fight against the
Legislature's measure.

Michigan voters tackled another medical question, soundly rejecting
physician-assisted suicide.

Opponents said the vote reflected dissatisfaction with the proposed
law, not with assisted suicide.

"It may have been a different outcome if they had a very open-ended
piece of legislation that would be accessible to all suffering
patients, not just the terminally ill," said Dr. John Finn, executive
director of Hospice of Michigan.

Taxes figured prominently among Tuesday's 235 statewide ballot
measures. South Dakotans rejected a plan to prevent property tax
revenues from financing schools, and Nebraskans nixed a proposal to
limit the amount of money state and local governments could raise
through taxes.

Missouri voters amended their constitution to legalize slot machines
on casinos that float in artificial moats. They had already approved
riverboat gambling in 1992, but gambling foes said the "boats in
moats"--10 of the state's 16 casinos--didn't qualify.

Missourians also outlawed animal fighting, specifically cockfighting
and bear fighting.

Cockfighting was also on its way out in Arizona, and dove hunting
prevailed in Ohio, where voters turned away a ban on the sport.

Massachusetts voters passed a plan to give political candidates
substantial public money if they agree to voluntarily limit their
spending and raise certain small contributions. A similar measure is
on the Arizona ballot.

Massachusetts voters also affirmed their support of the state's new
electricity deregulation deal, which opponents had said was too
friendly to utilities and would not save money for average consumers.

Other ballot initiatives included proposed bans on gay marriage,
affirmative action, forest clear-cutting and animal traps.

There was also the usual sprinkling of offbeat items, like the one in
Newport, Maine, sparked by complaints about a resident's topless
lawn-mowing. Voters decided to mind their own business--and not ask
their selectmen to ban display of "female breasts . . .

visible from a public way." Washington's decision on affirmative
action followed a long fight over how to word the measure. Supporters
of the practice favored the question "Do you want to end the use of
affirmative action for women and minorities?" But the phrasing voters
saw was: "Shall government entities be prohibited from discriminating
against or granting preferential treatment to individuals or groups
based on race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin?" Polls taken
before the election showed most Washington voters in favor of
affirmative action but supportive of abolishing programs defined as
giving "preferential treatment" to women and minorities.

There was also history to the gay marriage vote in Hawaii. The
question first arose in 1993, when the state Supreme Court said it was
unconstitutional to refuse marriage licenses to gay men and lesbians
because that denied rights given to heterosexual Hawaiians.

In an effort to satisfy the court, lawmakers passed a bill last year
granting gay and unmarried heterosexual couples some legal rights
enjoyed by married people, hoping the court would then be unable to
find discrimination if the Legislature subsequently banned same-sex
marriage.

Alaska's vote was part of a wave of preemptive legislating that swept
the country after the Hawaii ruling as states feared they might have
to recognize gay marriages performed there. To date, 29 states have
banned gay unions, and Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act,
which denies federal recognition of gay marriage.

In Michigan, support was initially strong for physician-assisted
suicide but waned when opponents portrayed the initiative as overly
complicated and improperly shielded from government oversight. The
measure had a surprising opponent in Dr. Jack Kevorkian, who has taken
part in more than 120 suicides. He said it was too restrictive. Oregon
is the only state to permit assisted suicide.

This election was Round Two for medical marijuana proponents, who ran
into legal blockades in 1996 after successful campaigns to legalize
the drug in Arizona and California. The 1998 measures in four states
and the District of Columbia were written more narrowly, specifying
the ailments that qualify and explicitly saying that marijuana was the
only drug at issue. Opponents nonetheless asserted the initiatives
were just a wedge to try to loosen the nation's drug laws and open the
door to open use of LSD and heroin.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry