To: drc-natl@drcnet.org
Subject: Drug Reform Wins Nine for Nine on Election Day, and More
Date: Gio, 5 nov 1998 0:15
DRUG REFORM WINS NINE FOR NINE ON ELECTION DAY, AND MORE
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Drug policy reform won big in the November 3rd elections, from medical marijuana and other ballot initiatives to candidates being elected who give hope for future reform, and some of our worst opponents defeated. We won every relevant measure on the ballot, some of them through "yes" votes to achieve our goals and some through "no" votes opposing unfavorable legislative changes made last year or the year before.
Initiative results, with links for further online updates can be found on at http://www.drcnet.org/election98/ and a brief summary is provided below. For detailed information on the content of the initiatives, visit http://www.drcnet.org/election98/election98.html for the full text of a report from the Drug Policy Foundation.
Watch for the upcoming Week Online for much more exciting coverage of Victory '98. Here are the basics:
ALASKA: Ballot Measure 8, medical marijuana, is ahead 58-42, with 97 of precincts reporting (see http://www.gov.state.ak.us/ltgov/elect98/results.htm).
ARIZONA: No votes on Prop. 300 and Prop. 301 have restored the provisions of Prop. 200 that voters passed two years ago. Prop. 300 went down 43-57, permitting prescription use of marijuana and other schedule I drugs, and Prop. 301 failed 48-52, mandating probation and treatment instead of prison for first and second time offenders (see
http://www.sosaz.com and follow the "general election results" link). Arizona reformers also successfully fielded Prop. 105, requiring that legislation undoing provisions of ballot initiative votes must be passed by a full 3/4 of the state legislature, or the voter's will must stand.
Interestingly, voters rejected an alternative bill sponsored by the legislature, Prop. 104, for which the standard is only 2/3, indicating that Arizona voters do indeed read the descriptions and understand what their votes mean. (Note that DRCNet doesn't have a position on Prop. 105 or 104, but supports democracy and respect for the will of the voters subject to constitutional protection of individual rights.)
COLORADO: Though court rulings have made Issue 19's status uncertain and unofficial, the Secretary of State's office has reported the results nevertheless. Colorado voters approved medical use of marijuana by 57-43% (see http://event.cbs.com/state/state_co.html).
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Congressional Republicans have used the D.C. budget process to forbid the D.C. government from announcing the results from Initiative 59, medical marijuana, in what may be the first time in American history that the results of an election have been concealed from those who voted in that election. An exit poll commissioned by Americans for Medical Rights found that I-59 was approved by a margin of 69-31, the most impressive victory for
>medical marijuana yet. A lawsuit brought by proponents of I-59, with the help of the local as well as the national ACLU, seeks to overturn the Congressional action on 1st amendment grounds, and reformers are hopeful that those who oppose democracy will not succeed in silencing the expression of the voters of the District of Columbia. (See our further note below regarding the Yes on 59 campaign.)
NEVADA: Nevada's Question 9, approving medical use of marijuana, has passed 58-41 (see http://www.governet.net/nvsos/Tools/Results/).
OREGON: Measure 57, which would have restored criminal penalties for possession of less than one ounce of marijuana, failed in a vote of 33-67, meaning that the state that was the first to decriminalize marijuana possession, in 1973, has maintained decriminalization in the face of a 2/3 vote by the legislature last year for recriminalization.
Measure 67, permitting medical use of marijuana, won 54-46, the smallest margin of victory in all the medical marijuana votes (see http://www.kgw.com/electoremeas.asp).
WASHINGTON: Initiative 692, permitting medical use of marijuana, has won by a margin of 59-41 (see http://209.43.151.101/vote98/reports/m_statewide.tmpl).
I-692 proponent Dr. Robert Killian, at a national press conference in D.C. this afternoon, reported that I-692 received a majority of the votes in every single county in the state -- meaning that every Congressional Rep. from Washington state is from has a district in which a majority of the voters voted for medical marijuana.
In Minnesota, formerly professional wrestler and talk show host Jesse "The Body" Ventura has been elected Governor as the candidate of the Reform Party. Ventura, who during his campaign referred to himself instead as "The Mind", has openly discussed the failure of the war on drugs and suggested legalization of marijuana as well as of prostitution (see http://www.jesseventura.org).
In California, Attorney General Dan Lungren, the leading opponent of the 1996 medical marijuana initiative Prop. 215, has lost his bid for Governor to the Democratic candidate Gray Davis. Lungren is seen by California reformers as having played a major role in thwarting the implementation
of Prop. 215 and failing to safeguard the rights that 215 has given to patients. Democratic candidate Bill Lockyer has won the office of Attorney General, in what reformers see as a hopeful development for successfully implementing Prop. 215. In Mendocino County, the new Sheriff and District Attorney, Tony Craver and Norman Vroman, have both
called for decriminalization of marijuana.
In New York, Democratic candidate Eliot Spitzer appears to have won an extremely close race for Attorney General.
Spitzer has promised to oppose the state's draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws.
North Carolina Sen. Lauch Faircloth, chairman of the Senate D.C. Appropriations Committee, was quoted yesterday in the Washington Times, regarding D.C.'s I-59 and Congress's move to block counting of the vote, saying, "I'd do anything I could to block it, to stop it. We're going to have to pass a federal law on this so-called medicinal marijuana. It's become an absolute farce in San Francisco. It's a joke.
We are going to have to outlaw it." Faircloth added that he would be willing to block D.C. officials from certifying the results, saying, "any way to stop the law, I'd be in favor of it." Sen. Faircloth will have less power over the District, however, as his reelection bid was defeated 52-47
by Democratic challenger John Edwards.
Congratulations go out to Americans for Medical Rights, whose efforts have won medical marijuana votes in several states, and special congratulations go out to the groups that spearheaded Initiative 59 in the District of Columbia as a local, grassroots effort. I-59 was first introduced
as I-57 by Steve Michael of DC ACTUP. After Michael passed away from AIDS without seeing his initiative make it to the ballot, Wayne Turner, his partner, and many allies, rallied and brought I-59 to the ballot in his honor. ACTUP's efforts garnered an impressive array of endorsements for I-59, including all the mayoral candidates and nearly all of the city council. Send ACTUP a note of congratulations at DCSign59@aol.com, and visit their web site at .The Marijuana Policy Project (http://www.mpp.org) organized a massive phone-banking and election day effort which we believe played a significant role in the huge success of the initiative, the widest margin of victory by which any medical marijuana vote has won. We at DRCNet are proud to have volunteered for the election day effort and supported
>the campaign through our rapid-response-team. MPP had to go into debt to mount this campaign, and supporters are encouraged to help them out with a donation -- call (202) 462-5747 or e-mail mpp@mpp.org for info, and visit http://www.mpp.org to learn more about MPP's work.
[...]
David Borden
Executive Director
borden@drcnet.org
