VOTERS DEFEAT POT-POSSESSION MEASURES

Activists hoping to soften American attitudes toward marijuana ran into
vigorous opposition from the White House, and drug reform ballot measures
were voted down in Nevada, Arizona and Ohio.

Wealthy backers who had succeeded in easing access to marijuana for medical
uses sought to go a step further and lessen the penalties for its use in
general. Many voters apparently drew a distinction between the two ideas.

Elsewhere, Florida voters banned smoking in most indoor workplaces and
restaurants, joining four other states that have passed similar bans.
Arizona residents slapped smokers with an increase in cigarette taxes from
58 cents to $1.18 per pack; Missouri narrowly defeated a quadrupling of the
cigarette tax.

Massachusetts residents voted to eliminate bilingual education, but
Colorado voters decided to keep it - a split victory for Silicon Valley
millionaire Ron Unz, who poured money into both campaigns. Unz, who
condemns bilingual classes as a black hole leaving students lacking in
English, began his English-immersion movement in California four years ago
and scored victories there and in Arizona in 2000.

Tennessee amended its constitution to allow statewide lotteries, leaving
Hawaii and Utah as the only states without any form of legalized gambling.

In Oregon, voters rejected two hotly contested measures, one that would
require companies to label genetically modified food and another to
universalize health care. The latter was expected to cost state taxpayers
$1.7 billion.

It was the pro-pot initiatives, however, that drew the most attention this
year.

Early polls had made advocates optimistic. The measures were heavily
financed by three billionaire philanthropists - George Soros, John Sperling
and Peter Lewis - as part of a broader effort to roll back the federal war
on drugs.

During the past six years, the three have financed successful efforts to
pass 17 of 19 state-level initiatives easing drug laws. In the past,
though, most of the measures dealt with medical marijuana.

This time, voters in Nevada defeated a measure to legalize the possession
of up to 3 ounces of marijuana. In Arizona, residents rejected an
initiative that would have likened marijuana possession to a traffic
violation. Finally, Ohio defeated a proposal that would have required
judges to order treatment instead of jail for some drug offenders.

President George W. Bush's newly appointed drug czar, John Walters,
campaigned in all three states against the measures, joining with state law
enforcement, judicial and political leaders in denouncing them.

Walters and his supporters characterized marijuana as a gateway drug that
leads to increased drug abuse by youths and more traffic accidents,
domestic violence and health problems.

Advocates were surprised by the force with which the White House fought
them in this election. "What we have seen tonight is how hard the drug war
ideologues are willing to fight and how dirty they're willing to fight,"
said Bruce Merken, a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, one of the
groups that coordinated the campaigns. "I think we need to sit down and
take a deep breath and take a look at how we can present the facts in a way
that people can understand."

Advocates found some solace in the approval of two municipal marijuana
measures. In San Francisco, officials received approval to explore
establishing a distribution program for medical marijuana; and in the
District of Columbia, voters approved a treatment-instead-of-jail measure
for pot possession.

Critics of the three tycoons, contending the citizen initiative process had
been hijacked, trumpeted the results as a victory for the common people.

"We told them Ohio is not for sale," said the state's first lady, Hope
Taft, a leader of Ohio's anti-pot campaign.