BALLOT MEASURES TAKE AIM AT SMOKERS

Go easy on pot smokers, get tough on cigarette smokers, start a state
lottery, secede from Los Angeles. Those are among the options facing voters
in 40 states with initiatives and referendums on their Nov. 5 ballots.

While the national spotlight focuses on the battle to control Congress,
many voters will have other chances to vent their feelings on some of
America's most contentious social issues.

Nevadans, for example, will vote on whether their state should be the first
to legalize marijuana and also on an amendment to reinforce an existing ban
on gay marriage.

Florida voters are expected to approve a sweeping ban on smoking in
enclosed workplaces, including restaurants. Proposed cigarette-tax hikes
are on the ballots in Missouri and Arizona.

Voters in Tennessee and North Dakota will decide whether to approve state
lotteries. That would be a milestone for Tennessee, which at present joins
Hawaii and Utah as the only states without legalized gambling.

In all, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, there
will be 202 proposals on state ballots, including 53 resulting from citizen
petition drives. The others were drafted by legislators. Many voters also
will face local and regional questions, including the proposed secession of
the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood from Los Angeles.

Oregon, traditionally a leader in placing citizen-backed initiatives on its
ballot, has seven such measures this year, including two that would set
national precedents.

One initiative would require labeling of food produced from genetically
engineered crops and livestock; another would provide full,
taxpayer-financed medical insurance for every Oregonian.

"It's the richest benefits package known to man," said J.L. Wilson, a
leading critic of the health care measure. "You would have to pay for
people to go to a massage therapist four days a week because it's deemed
'medically necessary.'"

Volatile education issues are on the ballots in several states, notably
Florida. Elected Democrats led successful petition drives there on behalf
of proposed constitutional amendments to establish free pre-kindergarten
and limit class sizes in public schools.

Republican Gov. Jeb Bush opposes the class-size amendment, saying it would
force higher taxes. His Democratic opponent in a tight election race, Bill
McBride, says the measure is needed to compensate for neglect of schools by
Bush's administration.

In Colorado and Massachusetts, voters will decide whether to eliminate
bilingual education and replace it with a one-year English-immersion
program. Both measures had financial backing from Ron Unz, a Palo Alto,
Calif., millionaire software developer who in past elections helped push
through similar ballot measures in California and Arizona.

An education measure on California's ballot this year has a celebrity
patron. Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, considered a future gubernatorial
candidate, has pumped $1 million into a campaign to shift $550 million
annually in state funds to after-school programs for elementary and junior
high students.

Voters in Washington state and two populous regions of Virginia face a
pocketbook dilemma at the polls - whether to raise their own taxes to
finance highway and transit projects intended to ease ever-worsening
traffic jams.

On almost all of the ballot questions, the federal government has stayed on
the sidelines. Not so with Nevada's marijuana measure and an Arizona
proposal to make possession of small amounts of pot a non-criminal offense
comparable to a traffic violation.

The federal drug czar, John P. Walters, has visited both states to oppose
decriminalization, which he calls "a stupid, insulting con."

Nevada's measure would allow adults 21 and older to possess up to 3 ounces
of marijuana, which would be sold legally only at state-licensed stores.
Pot smoking would be allowed in homes, not in cars or public places.

Drug offenses also figure in Ohio and South Dakota ballot items that are
backed by drug-law reformers and opposed by most criminal justice officials.

The Ohio initiative would require judges to sentence first- and second-time
drug offenders to treatment rather than prison. The South Dakota proposal
would allow any defendant to tell jurors they can disregard a law if they
don't like it.

A ballot measure in Oklahoma would create a new crime - cockfighting.
Oklahoma is one of only three states, along with New Mexico and Louisiana,
where that bloody spectacle is legal.

Political and election changes are proposed in several states. Measures in
Colorado and California would allow voter registration on Election Day; a
referendum in Idaho would restore term limits that the Legislature repealed.

In North Dakota, voters will consider a unique proposal to stem the exodus
of young people. The measure offers up to $5,000 to repay student loans and
an income tax credit of up to $1,000 annually for five years to 21- to
29-year-olds who have jobs and have lived in the state at least six months.

On the Net:

Details on ballot measures: http://www.ballotwatch.org