cannabisnews.com: U.S. Voters Reject Bids to Relax Ban on Pot 





U.S. Voters Reject Bids to Relax Ban on Pot 
Posted by CN Staff on November 06, 2002 at 09:24:29 PT
By Marc Lavine 
Source: Agence France-Presses 
Voters in freewheeling Nevada in Tuesday's elections refused to make it the first US state to legalize marijuana, while the people of San Francisco asked the city to think about going into the drugs business.The states of Arizona and Ohio also blew off proposed drugs law relaxations, but voters in ever-liberated San Francisco bucked the trend and resoundingly adopted a measure ordering the city to consider growing and distributing the drug for medical use.
Early returns showed voters in Nevada, which made its name on gambling and tolerates prostitution, scuppered the liberal proposition by 61 percent to 39 in a referendum carried out alongside mid-term Congressional elections.Supporters of the marijuana referendum -- the most radical of seven drug-related measures that went to a popular vote Tuesday -- conceded defeat, but vowed to keep fighting to liberalize use of the soft drug."A lot more conservative voters than normal turned out this time because of a same-sex marriages proposition on the same ballot," said Nevada state Representative Chris Giunchigliani, who sponsored the initiative.The state electorate also voted to uphold a state ban on gay marriages.The marijuana proposal would have allowed citizens to buy and possess up to 84 grammes (three ounces) of pot for personal use on private premises.People over 21 would have got to buy marijuana in state-licensed shops rather than buying off street-corner drug dealers, in a move that would have permitted the state to tax the drug.Giunchigliani however stressed that the marijuana drive said the battle was far from over."We may not have won tonight but our campaign will be back in some shape or form if not in Nevada in some other state because the only way you change our federal government is through the voting booth," Giunchigliani said.Polls had indicated the proposition, which infuriated US drug czar John Waters and sent the federal government scurrying to undermine the movement, was likely fail by a narrow margin.Opponents, including a host of law enforcement officials, had warned that the limited legalization was the thin end of the wedge and would encourage and lead to widespread use of other drugs too.In neighbouring Arizona, voters dismissed a local initiative to downgrade the punishment for marijuana possession and to establish a register of people allowed to use soft drugs for medical purposes by 57 percent to 43 percent.The move would have reduced the penalty for possession of the drug from a jail sentence to a fine.In the eastern state of Ohio, a bid to force judges to sentence drug offenders to rehabilitation treatment rather than jail was quashed by voters by a huge majority of 67 percent against the move to 33 percent in favour.But in San Francisco, 63 percent of voters opted for a measure that could make it the first city in America to provide cannabis for sick people, a move that will put it on a direct collision course with the federal government.The decision to order city officials to examine the possibility of growing and distributing cannabis means that residents of the city could one day be allowed to cultivate their own marijuana crops."We think it sends the wrong message to the country as a whole that the city of San Francisco will get into the business of growing marijuana," said Richard Meyer, a special agent in the US drug agency's San Francisco office.California passed a law in 1996 allowing doctors to recommend cannabis for some patients, a move that saw a crop of medical cannabis dispensaries spring up across the city that once spawned the pot-fuelled summer of love."The will of the voters ... must be respected," wrote the four city elders who supported the ballot measure.The legalization efforts in Nevada, Arizona and Ohio as well as another in Washington DC, were backed by a trio of millionaires through a Washington-based body.Financier George Soros, billionaire John Sperling and multi-millionaire Peter Lewis provided more than 1.6 million dollars in funding for the campaigns through the Marijuana Policy Project.Complete Title: US Voters Reject Bids to Relax Ban on Pot -- Except in San FranciscoSource: Agence France-Presses (France Wire)Author: Marc Lavine Published: Wednesday, November 6, 2002Copyright: 2002 Agence France-PresseWebsite: http://www.afp.com/Contact: http://www.afp.com/english/afp/?cat=contactRelated Articles & Web Site:Medical Marijuana Information Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/medical.htmVoters Back City Pot Distribution http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14672.shtmlProp. S: Challenging the Feds http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14669.shtmlSan Francisco Considers Growing Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14640.shtml
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