POT MEASURES DIE

States Pick, Choose Other Issues

Activists hoping to soften American attitudes toward marijuana saw their
ballot initiatives voted down in Nevada, Arizona and Ohio.

And in California, secession measures that would have split Los Angeles
into three entities - the city, Hollywood, and the San Fernando Valley -
were defeated.

Elsewhere Tuesday, 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.

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 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," said Merken.

Advocates found some solace in the passage of two citywide 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.

On an unrelated ballot issue, a wealthy backer did get his way.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, touted as a potential future California
gubernatorial candidate, spent $1 million to help pass an initiative that
earmarks a half-billion dollars annually for after-school programs.

In a historic election over the future of Los Angeles, secession of the San
Fernando Valley was soundly defeated despite leading by a narrow margin in
the Valley itself.

Hollywood secession lost badly citywide and in Hollywood.

In other results:

Arkansas defeated a proposal to repeal the sales tax on food and medicine.

Massachusetts rejected a measure to end the state's personal income tax.

Nevada voters reinforced an existing ban on homosexual marriages.

Oklahomans voted to ban cockfighting. The state had been one of three,
along with Louisiana and New Mexico, that still allowed it.

Colorado and New Mexico voters rejected a proposed state holiday in honor
of labor leader Cesar Chavez.

A Florida measure limiting class size in public schools passed, but the
Democratic candidate for governor who strongly backed it, Bill McBride, was
defeated in part over questions about how the program would be funded.