Wednesday, November 4, 1998:
Oregon Measures 57 and 67 - Update (A list subscriber says pollster Tim Hibbitts has declared yesterday's referendum on recriminalizing marijuana a loser, with more than two-thirds of voters opposed at last count, and the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act a winner, with the tally at 55 percent to 45 percent so far.)
Recriminalization Of Marijuana Defeated, Medical Use Measure Leading (The Associated Press summarizes yesterday's two election victories for Oregon reformers, who raised $636,000 compared to "less than $300,000" by law enforcement officials.)
Medicinal Marijuana Gains Support (A list subscriber forwards a different Associated Press roundup, noting the reporter who quotes him in the article told him Measure 57, which would have recriminalized possession of less than one ounce of marijuana, was defeated in every one of Oregon's 36 counties.)
Medical Marijuana Bill Gaining Approval (The version in The Register-Guard, in Eugene, Oregon, says that in Lane County, more than 64 percent of voters approved Measure 67 in early returns.)
Measure 67 Brings Relief To Many (KOIN Channel 6000, Portland's CBS affiliate, notes the triumph of the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, and interviews local medical marijuana patients Craig Helms and Diane Densmore, both previously convicted on marijuana-related charges.)
Oregon Puts Its Stamp On Elections (A typically biased Oregonian summary of yesterday's results from 14 state ballot initiatives barely mentions ballot measures 57 and 67, concerning recrim and medical marijuana, and reiterates opponents' arguments against the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act without citing any arguments by proponents. The most expensive race on the ballot was Measure 59, which would have prohibited public employee unions from using payroll deductions to raise money for political activity.)
Medical Use Of Marijuana Looks Likely (The Oregonian admits Ballot Measure 67, allowing certain sick people to use marijuana on the recommendation of a physician, appeared to be passing late Tuesday. Oregon patients who qualify under the new law will have to wait until at least May 1 before they can apply for registry cards from the Oregon Health Division. But as early as Dec. 3 the law could be used as a defense in court. Meanwhile, Measure 57, which would have recriminalized possession of less than one ounce of marijuana, was being rejected 2-to-1. Multnomah County Sheriff Dan Noelle, a true believer whose contempt for democracy is evident, says "I suspect there will be continued efforts to recriminalize.")
Medical Marijuana Looks Likely (The Oregonian says Measure 67, the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, appeared to be passing late Tuesday. While explaining the mechanics of the ballot measure and noting comments of opponents and supporters, the newspaper quotes the ever-expedient Multnomah County district attorney, Michael Schrunk, reversing himself, saying his office will not back off from prosecuting illegal use of marijuana. Previously, during the campaign, the DA tried to scare voters into opposing Measure 67, saying "These exceptions cancel out the rules and limits, thereby making enforcement of any marijuana laws not only impractical but virtually impossible." Michael Schrunk is a liar.)
Murmurs - The best, worst and weirdest of the November 1998 election campaign (Willamette Week, in Portland, collects some amusing tidbits of information about the just-completed election cycle, including the campaigns in Oregon for medical marijuana and against recrim.)
Officers find marijuana plants and stolen guns at suspect's home (According to The Associated Press, prohibition agents in Douglas County, Oregon, say they found a sophisticated marijuana operation in the home of a suspect killed in a gunfight after wounding two agents. Of course, since the police were the only ones allowed on the scene, and police routinely refuse to videotape their raids, there doesn't seem to be any objective evidence as to what really happened.)
Authorities disclose marijuana haul (The Oregonian version)
NewsBuzz - Bugging Plants (Willamette Week says Portland-area defense lawyers are up in arms after discovering that the Portland Police violated a legal settlement with American Agriculture and have been secretly tracing phone calls to the hydroponics store - perhaps for years - to get leads on suspected marijuana growers. Lawyers are supposed to be told what led police to their clients during the discovery process, but police have never revealed the wiretap. A judicial hearing is scheduled for Dec. 15. If the wiretap is ruled illegal, defense lawyers say they'll move to have possibly hundreds of cases against their clients thrown out. Recall Chief Moose and District Attorney Schrunk!)
Washington among five states to OK medical marijuana (The Seattle Times says supporters of Initiative 692, the Washington state medical-marijuana ballot measure, were savoring the aroma of a decisive victory today as Dr. Rob Killian, the principal sponsor, was heading to Washington, DC, to speak at a news conference calling on a reluctant federal government to reform its marijuana laws.)
Prop 215 Supporters Cheered by Election Results - West Coast Sends a Mandate for Marijuana Reform (A press release from California NORML summarizes yesterday's victories for reform. In California, voters retired gubernatorial candidate Dan Lungren, nemesis of Proposition 215, and replaced him with Bill Lockyer as attorney general, a strong supporter of the California Compassionate Use Act of 1996. California NORML also plans to propose legislation to decriminalize personal-use cultivation, as has been successfully tried in Australia and was recommended by the state Research Advisory Panel in 1990.)
Lockyer Will Succeed Lungren After Close Victory Over Stirling (The San Jose Mercury News notes Bay Area Democrat Bill Lockyer, a supporter of Proposition 215, on Tuesday won the race to replace Dan Lungren as California attorney general, beating his Republican rival, Dave Stirling.)
Ex-felon elected as Mendocino District Attorney (The Associated Press says voters in the Northern California county narrowly elected Norman Vroman, a lawyer who served a federal prison term for failing to pay income taxes, and who favors decriminalization of marijuana. Voters also elected as their sheriff Tony Craver, who also favors decriminalizing marijuana.)
Vroman Pulls Off Upset In Mendocino (The Santa Rosa Press Democrat version)
Ex-Con Elected DA In California's "Pot" Country (The Reuters version)
2 Top Athletic Department Officials At CSUN Resign (The Los Angeles Times says that after Cal State Northridge women's basketball Coach Michael Abraham was arrested in the campus gymnasium last week and charged with intent to distribute crack cocaine, the two top officials in the university's athletic department resigned Tuesday, admitting that they knew of allegations of the coach's illegal drug use.)
Alaskan results as of 1:00 am (A list subscriber's early-morning bulletin says Measure 8, the Alaskan medical-marijuana ballot initiative, is ahead by about 58 percent to 42 percent.)
Medical Marijuana Initiative Clears Its First Hurdle (The Las Vegas Review-Journal says Nevada voters asserted their independence Tuesday and decisively approved Question 9, which would allow doctors to recommend marijuana to patients with serious illnesses. Partial returns showed the medical marijuana question was approved by 59 percent to 41 percent. But Nevada voters must approve Question 9 again in 2000.)
24 shots came from 1 officer in Oregon case (The Houston Chronicle says one of the six Houston prohibition agents who broke into the home of an innocent man, Pedro Oregon Navarro, without a warrant, fired his semiautomatic pistol at the 22-year-old man until the magazine was empty, then reloaded and continued firing.)
HPD steps out in Oregon death (Three diverse letters to the editor of The Houston Chronicle focus on the killing of Pedro Oregon Navarro by Houston prohibition agents who broke into his home without a warrant.)
Results of DC Marijuana Vote Kept Secret Pending Court Action (The Washington Post says the DC Board of Elections and Ethics decided yesterday that the election returns for Initiative 59, the District of Columbia's medical marijuana ballot measure, must remain secret to comply with rules passed by Congress. However, an exit poll funded by Americans for Medical Rights found that those who voted on it favored it by 69 percent.)
Marijuana Vote Results Kept Secret (A slightly different Washington Post account)
DC Won't Disclose Vote, Cites Congress' Pressure (The Chicago Tribune version)
Action Alert - National Call-in Day for I-59 (A bulletin from Colorado Citizens for Compassionate Cannabis urges you to call your US representative and two US senators to demand that the votes be counted for Initiative 59, the District of Columbia's medical marijuana ballot measure.)
Wrong Government Message (A letter to the editor of USA Today responds to an op-ed by the White House Drug Czar, General Barry McCaffrey, who wrote that science, not popular votes, should determine marijuana's medical availability. However, the general ignores two important facts. Marijuana was a bona fide medicine in the United States Pharmacopeia until 1940, when it was removed for political rather than scientific reasons. And for 20 years the government has willfully blocked scientific research that would confirm marijuana's medical efficacy.)
Medical Marijuana Wins at Polls (According to an early-morning Associated Press article, voters in Arizona, Nevada and the state of Washington said "Yes" to medical marijuana, while election officials in the District of Columbia said "Shhh." Reform measures are expected to win in Alaska and Oregon, while Arizona voters cleared the way for a second time to let doctors prescribe marijuana and some other illicit drugs for seriously ill patients.)
Medical Marijuana Backed In 3 States (A Washington Post election roundup on ballot initiatives around the country notes voters in Washington state, Nevada and Arizona passed measures yesterday allowing doctors to recommend marijuana for patients with certain illnesses.)
Three States Pass Medical Marijuana (The Associated Press version)
3 States Pass Medical Marijuana (Another Associated Press roundup notes the reform victories in Nevada, Arizona and Washington, and surveys the results of other state ballot initiatives.)
Voters Back Medical Marijuana In 3 States (The Los Angeles Times version)
Medicinal Marijuana Gives Some Hope (Another Associated Press account of yesterday's drug-policy-reform victories notes opponents of medical marijuana in Alaska enlisted former first lady Barbara Bush, but the measure there was endorsed by several medical groups, including the state chapter of the American Medical Association and the Alaska Nurses Association. Meanwhile, in Nevada, the state's attorney general said he would not enforce a medical marijuana initiative unless federal law is changed.)
A Message To Government In Propositions - Back Off (Yet another Associated Press election roundup in The Seattle Times provides an interesting insight on the results of 235 voter initiatives around the nation. Voters said they didn't want the government to intrude on their lives, whether it was to limit abortions, deny drugs to the seriously ill or even tell them where they could gamble.)
Groups call on government to allow medical use of marijuana (The Associated Press covers a news conference today in Washington, DC, where drug policy reform advocates such as Ethan Nadelmann called on the federal government to allow the medical use of cannabis. Should the government continue to stick its head in the sand, medical marijuana reformers plan ballot initiatives in Maine, Colorado and Nevada again, as well as in Massachusetts, Florida, Michigan and Ohio.)
Message From Voters To Washington - Legalize Medical Marijuana - Measures Protecting Patients Pass in Five States, District of Columbia (A news release from the NORML Foundation summarizes yesterday's reform victories in Alaska, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington state.)
Drug Reform Wins Nine for Nine on Election Day, and More (Another summary of yesterday's election results, by the Drug Reform Coordination Network, notes that in Minnesota, former professional wrestler and talk show host Jesse "The Body" Ventura was elected governor as the candidate for the Reform Party. Ventura has openly discussed the failures of the war on drugs and suggested depenalizing marijuana offenses and prostitution. US Senator Lauch Faircloth of North Carolina, the chairman of the Senate DC Appropriations Committee who was instrumental in quashing the District of Columbia's medical marijuana ballot measure, also lost his re-election bid to Democratic challenger John Edwards.)
Elliott Backs Radical Drug Law Changes (The Advertiser, in Australia, says Mike Elliott, the leader of the Democrats party, has just returned from a visit to Switzerland and Holland and will launch a renewed campaign for radical drug law reform today.)
Bytes: 188,000 Last updated: 1/24/99
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