JUSTICES WON'T OK POT VOTE

Oct. 30 - Amendment 19 died Thursday when the Colorado Supreme Court refused
to order county clerks to tally the votes cast for and against the medical
marijuana initiative.

The amendment will appear on electionday ballots - it is too late to remove
it - but the votes will not be tallied.

The Supreme Court ruling was the second defeat within 24 hours for
Coloradans for Medical Rights, which had sought emergency rulings in both
Denver District Court and in the Supreme Court requesting an Amendment 19
tally.

Secretary of State Vikki Buckley had repeatedly ruled that Coloradans for
Medical Rights, the sponsor of the amendment, had failed to present
sufficient petition signatures for the matter to be placed before voters.

But the group had gone to court claiming that Buckley had failed to make an
accurate assessment of the validity of the 88,815 signatures submitted.

The group now believes that it eventually will win a court fight based on a
lawsuit filed Wednesday against Buckley in Denver District Court. The suit
claims that a check of Buckley's figures shows there were 290 more
signatures than constitutionally required to place the measure on the
ballot.

"Obviously we are very disappointed,'' said Luther Symons, spokesman for
Coloradans for Medical Rights. "We tried everything we could think of. And
unfortunately the courts didn't see things our way on these various
emergency motions. But we think ultimately on a full trial on the merits the
court will determine we were right.

"We remain confident that when all is said and done that we will be able to
prove that the secretary of state was wrong in her assessment of our
signatures. We deserved a place on the 1998 ballot, but since we can't have
that we should be awarded a place on the 2000 ballot,'' Symons said.

The marijuana initiative would allow people with "debilitating medical
conditions,'' such as cancer and AIDS, to legally possess and use marijuana
as a form of treatment.

Maurice Knaizer, the deputy attorney general who represented Buckley, said
Thursday's Supreme Court ruling clears the way for Denver District Judge
Connie Peterson to review the allegations made in Wednesday's lawsuit.

In September, Denver District Judge Herbert Stern ordered Buckley to put the
initiative on the ballot - despite her finding of insufficient petition
signatures.

After the ballot was printed, the Supreme Court ordered Buckley to recount
the 88,815 signatures. Votes on the amendment would be tallied only if there
were sufficient signatures, the court ruled.

Buckley said the recount showed that there were not enough valid signatures.
And that resulted in initiative supporters seeking the emergency rulings
from the Supreme Court and Peterson.

Knaizer said Thursday that the state believes there must be a "final and
complete determination'' that enough valid petition signatures exist before
an initiative can be placed on the ballot.

"Basically all we wanted to do was to make sure that an orderly process was
established,'' the deputy attorney general said. "We have to look not only
to this case but to all future cases.

"To us, the process is the most important issue,'' he said.

Symons said that Coloradans for Medical Rights has spent about $650,000,
including about $100,000 in legal fees.

However, he said he expects the total bill to be higher because the cost of
hiring dozens of temporary employees to check Buckley's work has yet to be
factored in.

Checked-by: Don Beck