ALASKANS REJECT MARIJUANA AND BEAR BAITING MEASURES

Voters Pass U.S. Senate Vacancies Initiative

About two-thirds of the state's precincts were counted by the Empire's
press time.

Voters rejected, 118,000 to 89,000, an initiative that would make it
legal to buy, sell, use and grow marijuana, with 281 of 439 precincts
counted. Alaskans also opposed an initiative banning bear baiting,
121,000 to 84,000, with 281 precincts counted.

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constitutional amendment establishing more stringent guidelines for
collecting signatures for ballot initiatives remained tightly
contested at press time, with 101,000 votes for it and 96,000 against
it, after 281 precincts were counted.

The initiative taking away the governor's power to fill U.S. Senate
vacancies was filed in response to Gov. Frank Murkowski appointing his
daughter to fill his Senate seat in 2002, when he returned to Alaska
to serve as governor. At press time, the measure led 111,000 to 91,000.

It was a hard-fought battle to get the measure on the ballot for the
three Democratic lawmakers who sponsored it. They took Lt. Gov. Loren
Leman to court four times before the issue was approved by the chief
elections official.

"It's a victory for democracy," said state Rep. Eric Croft,
D-Anchorage, a sponsor of the initiative. "There was never any doubt
that if we got it to the people, they would approve it."

The initiative banning bear baiting would have made it a misdemeanor
to intentionally feed bears for the purpose of hunting, viewing or
photographing them. The proposed law would have been punishable by a
fine of up to $10,000 and up to a year in jail.

"When we crafted the thing last spring it probably would have passed
by 75 percent," according to Hoonah hunting guide John Erickson, who
helped write the initiative. "It was strictly a hunting thing."

Erickson said he thought that the proposal was misrepresented in the
state voters' guide by scaring voters into thinking that they could be
fined for photographing bears or attracting bears with backyard bird
feeders. He said Citizens Against Bear Baiting, the group that
introduced the initiative, was outspent by its opponents.

"They had lots of money," he said. "We had a very small
budget."

The proposal to decriminalize the possession of marijuana, despite
sponsors tempering their approach since the last legalization attempt,
was close to defeat Tuesday at press time. The proposal would have
made it legal for those 21 and over to possess, sell, use and grow the
drug.

A similar initiative on the ballot in 2000 would have made the legal
age 18 and would have provided amnesty for those convicted of
marijuana-related crimes. That proposal was opposed by about 59
percent of the voters.

David Finkelstein, a former state Democratic lawmaker and treasurer of
one of several pro-marijuana groups in Anchorage, said television and
radio news outlets in Anchorage sensationalized a recent murder that
was allegedly tied to marijuana use.

"I'm not saying we would have won otherwise, but it derailed the
campaign and made it hard to get our message out," he said. "It's just
one of those things that's hard to control."