A MESSAGE TO GOVERNMENT IN PROPOSITIONS: BACK OFF

Voters casting ballots yesterday on 235 state initiatives nationwide
said they didn't want the government to intrude on their lives,
whether it was to limit abortions, deny drugs to the seriously ill or
even tell them where they could gamble. Here's a roundup:

- -- Medical marijuana: Voters in Arizona, Nevada and Washington state
approved the medical use of marijuana, which advocates say can help
ease pain and nausea.

Early returns in Oregon indicated a medical-marijuana measure would
pass there, too, but the vote in Washington, D.C., might never be
known. Election officials opted to keep results under cover because
Congress, which controls the capital's budget, opposes
legalization.

- -- Gambling: California's Indian tribes won broad voter approval to
continue running their casinos unhampered by state control.

Missouri voters approved lucrative slot machines on boats tethered in
manmade lagoons instead of on rivers.

- -- Animal issues: 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 for slaughter.

Alaskans rejected a ban on wolf snares, Ohioans turned back a ban on
mourning-dove hunting, and Minnesota passed constitutional protections
for hunting and fishing.

- -- Abortion: Colorado, like Washington state, rejected a proposal to
restrict a controversial late-term procedure that opponents call
"partial-birth abortion." Colorado approved parental notification for
minors seeking abortions.

Michigan, meanwhile, rejected a plan that would have made the state
the second in the nation, after Oregon, with legalized
physician-assisted suicide.

- -- Marriage: Hawaii gave state lawmakers the go-ahead to write a law
that would prohibit same-sex marriage. Alaskans voted a gay-marriage
ban into their constitution.

- -- Taxes: South Dakotans rejected a plan to prevent property-tax
revenues from financing schools. Nebraskans vetoed a proposal to limit
the amount of money state and local governments could raise through
taxes. Coloradans said no to income-tax credit for parents of
school-age children.

- -- Environment: South Dakota voters tightened restrictions on
corporate farming. Oregon rejected limits on forest clear-cutting.
Montana approved a ban on cyanide in new gold-mining projects.

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

New stadiums were approved in Denver and San Diego.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry