cannabisnews.com: Lt. Governor Abuses His Election Authority Lt. Governor Abuses His Election Authority Posted by CN Staff on October 24, 2004 at 09:40:26 PT Empire Editorial Source: Juneau Empire The lieutenant governor's role is one that often fades into the background once a gubernatorial election is won, but Loren Leman is managing to grab far more newsprint than most who have held his office. Unfortunately, he's doing it by abusing the lieutenant governor's most important duty - overseeing elections.This week backers of a ballot initiative to legalize marijuana filed suit against Leman because one of his staff members wrote the opposition statement to the proposition in the state's Official Election Pamphlet. The medical director of a drug treatment center signed the statement, but the words were mostly those of a Leman staffer. While the staff member claims she was in a time crunch and would have done the same for the other side, these are not legitimate excuses from an office that is supposed to remain impartial when distributing election information.Already Leman's urge to inject his own agenda into the state's election pamphlet and ballot has cost Alaskans $295,000. An Anchorage Superior Court Judge in late September ordered the state to change this year's ballots because Leman had inserted wording into the supposedly neutral summary of an initiative on filling U.S. Senate vacancies. The ballot proposition calls for Senate vacancies to be filled by election, rather than by appointment by the governor. Leman inserted a statement that this measure would leave Alaska's Senate seat empty for three to five months. That claim is one of the key arguments by critics of this measure and is disputed by the measure's supporters.After the court ruling against Leman, extra staff was needed to reprint and redistribute all 517,000 ballots by election time. But the wording did get into the election pamphlet that was sent out across the state.Leman had tried to remove the initiative on Senate vacancies from the ballot twice, using claims that it was unconstitutional and then saying recent legislation achieved the same result as the proposition. But the Alaska Supreme Court ruled against Leman and ordered that the measure be placed back on the ballot.While Leman talks about conducting the elections with integrity, his actions speak far louder than his words. He's lost his credibility as an impartial overseer of the state's election process. Usually the state election pamphlet is a safe place to go for a neutral summary of initiatives, followed by arguments on both sides, but this year, voters need to read the statements with some caution. And the next time Leman's name is on the ballot, voters need to remember how he tried to abuse his authority over elections to further his own agenda, and ask themselves if they really want to give this man any more power.Source: Juneau Empire (AK)Published: October 24, 2004 Copyright: 2004 Southeastern Newspaper Corp.Website: http://www.juneauempire.com/Contact: letterstotheeditor juneauempire.comRelated Articles & Web Site:Yes on 2 Alaskahttp://www.yeson2alaska.com/Yes on Measure 2: MJ Initiative Will Restore Orderhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19698.shtmlMarijuana Proponents Sue State, Lemanhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19693.shtmlTranscript: The Abrams Report: Alaska Initiative http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19680.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #12 posted by Dankhank on October 24, 2004 at 16:05:15 PT Czar It's up to congresspersons to nominate individuals ... at least that's what I was told when I called the ONDCP in 2000 and said I wanted to apply for the job. Resume' [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by siege on October 24, 2004 at 13:27:16 PT Birds of a feather Under the Bush Administration, the second Anti-Drug Abuse Act was passed in 1988. This legislation formally established the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAHMSA). The Head of the ONDCP - known as “Drug Czar” - was to be a cabinet-level position and tasked with the duty of preparing an annual national strategy to combat drug use. But since the position held no budget or enforcement authority, the position would largely be a spokesperson for the White House’s philosophy on drugs. President Bush named William Bennett, former Department of Education Secretary under Reagan and conservative mouth-piece, to the position. would largely be a spokesperson for the White House’s philosophy on drugs. [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by FoM on October 24, 2004 at 12:56:52 PT dr slider You could very well be right. Dennis is a good man and we need him if Kerry wins. He needs an important job. He deserves an important job. [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by dr slider on October 24, 2004 at 12:51:59 PT: FoM Gotta go with you on Dennis's nomination. Who else would look at this "Office of National Drug Control" and conclude that his job is unconstitutional. (Where in the const. does it give the federal gov't the power to control medicine?) and move to disband the job itself? [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by siege on October 24, 2004 at 12:25:41 PT vote The one we should be able to vote (ON) is A G ASHCROFT [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by FoM on October 24, 2004 at 12:12:47 PT Just a Note I said like a game Whisper Down The Lane. That's not right. That game meant the end was distorted from the original whisper. What I meant is spread the idea around and let it grow. We've come up with a few great ideas for Drug Czar. Maybe if we can think of enough good people maybe we will get one of them. That would be wonderful! Only one thing could be more wonderful. NO MORE DRUG CZARS! LOL! [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by FoM on October 24, 2004 at 11:58:10 PT How About Dennis Kucinich? [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by VitaminT on October 24, 2004 at 11:52:41 PT I nominate Howard Woolridge of LEAP for Drug Czar [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by FoM on October 24, 2004 at 11:45:31 PT Good Ideas For Drug Czar This election and the tv media admits that the Internet and Blogs and speciality web sites have changed the course of history. The Internet is what has kept the momentum going and given us the regular everyday people that make up society a powerful voice. Why it will be good to talk about who we would want as a drug czar is because the Internet is like a childhood game called Whisper Down The Lane. At least that's what we called it. As we whisper our ideas and those whispers spread thru the Internet people hear and change happens. What an exciting yet very troubling time we live in. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by cloud7 on October 24, 2004 at 11:31:40 PT FoM Proposition 215 was huge when it passed and you're absolutely right about how far we've come since then. If this Alaska initiative passes, it will be as significant for the recreational movement as Prop 215 was for the medical.I think Gary Johnson would be ideal, although I'm glad you prefaced this with "I know we don't want a drug czar" [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by lilgrasshoppah77 on October 24, 2004 at 11:30:00 PT Tommy Chong For drug Czar!!!! or Jesse Ventura...? [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by FoM on October 24, 2004 at 11:10:16 PT About Alaska Since the news is slow I've been watching the TV news but I've been thinking about Alaska. I wasn't online until after Prop 215 passed. The Internet days of marijuana reform were only in it's infancy and high speed connections were only a dream. Prop 215 spurred the medical marijuana movement on and now look how far we have come. We're not there yet but we definitely are heading in the right direction. Now we have Alaska. Alaska is blazing the trail for all of us. Alaska is the most important issue of any that will be voted on November 2nd. I hope so much this passes. Go Alaska please when you vote stand for freedom.PS: I also wonder if we had the right to pick a Drug Czar and if we lose John Walters and get someone new who would people want to be our drug czar? I know we don't want a drug czar but beyond that who would we pick? [ Post Comment ] Post Comment