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: Richard Lake