ON THE BALLOT

Voters across the country will decide the fate of more than 150
initiatives on Election Day. A few of these state ballot questions, if
passed, could gain support in other parts of the country.

Among those attracting national attention are Colorado's effort to
abandon its winner-take-all distribution of Electoral College votes
for the president; Arizona's bid to mandate proof of citizenship to
vote and receive taxpayer-funded services; and California's proposal
to require companies with 50 or more employees to provide health
insurance benefits.

However, none of these ballot questions will rattle national policy as
much as Alaska's Ballot Measure 2, which would make that state the
first to completely decriminalize marijuana. The proposal would make
it legal for those 21 and older to grow, possess and distribute the
drug under the regulation of the state.

A similar initiative failed to qualify for Nevada's ballot this year,
and Silver State voters soundly rejected an effort to decriminalize
marijuana in 2002.

Supporters of the Alaska ballot question point to the high cost of
keeping the drug illegal -- and the failure of those efforts to keep
marijuana away from juveniles. Although various levels of government
spend a total of $40 per year for every Alaska resident on
marijuana-related law enforcement, a survey showed about a quarter of
Alaska's high school students had smoked pot at least once in the
previous month.

Of course, the federal government opposes Ballot Measure 2. As it has
shown in California by harassing would-be medical marijuana users, the
Justice Department has no respect for voters' rights to change laws
that aren't to their liking. Alaskans can look forward to more federal
drug enforcement efforts if they approve the initiative.

The decision to decriminalize the drug won't be a simple one for many
voters. But regardless of what Alaska voters choose, this initiative
will accelerate debate on national drug policy -- and no doubt lead to
another vote on the issue, perhaps again in Nevada.