BORN TO BE MILD

FOR decades, California has been a leader of American social and
cultural trends. But when it comes to further liberalizing marijuana
use, the state may have sent a signal to the nation, not by what it
did but by what it didn't do. On Election Day, it rejected Proposition
19.

Voters were asked whether they wanted to allow adults 21 years and
older to possess and grow small amounts of marijuana. By 54 percent to
46 percent, they said no, and they did it across the social spectrum,
with blacks and Latinos opposing it at about the same percentage as
whites.

Voters who opposed the measure crossed gender, income, and education
levels too, an Associated Press analysis showed. The most significant
divide was not surprising: Voters 65 or older were more likely to
oppose it; those under 30 tended to favor it.

It wasn't a landslide defeat. Proposition 19 supporters are encouraged
enough to consider trying again in two years. It does suggest,
however, that, for now at least, further liberalization of marijuana
use was a bridge to a reefer too far.

As it is, California has a permissive attitude toward marijuana. In
1996, it became the first state to pass a medical marijuana law. Since
then, 13 states have followed its lead. A month before the election,
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a law that made possession of up to
an ounce of marijuana the equivalent of a traffic ticket, providing
the suspect has no criminal record. That was another reason for voters
to think that the pendulum had swung far enough.

Other states were similarly cautious. For the second time, South
Dakota rejected a medical marijuana law. Oregon refused to expand its
existing law. But Arizona narrowly approved a measure that will make
it the 15th state to allow medical marijuana use.

It seems that the growing acceptance of marijuana use is not taking
the form of a wild rebellion but a progress of fits and starts.