Pubdate: Wed, 07 Jan 2004 Source: Juneau Empire (AK) Copyright: 2004 Southeastern Newspaper Corp Contact: http://www.juneauempire.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/549 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/states/ak/ (Alaska) LEMAN PUTS MARIJUANA INITIATIVE ON BALLOT JUNEAU - A voter initiative to make marijuana legal under state law was certified Tuesday for the Nov. 2 ballot by Lt. Gov. Loren Leman. The initiative would decriminalize marijuana use for people 21 and older. Leman, a Republican and staunch drug opponent, denied certification of the measure last January after 194 of the 484 signature booklets were disallowed for technical errors. Initiative sponsors filed a lawsuit. Anchorage Superior Court Judge John Suddock ruled Sept. 23 that many errors were "trivial" and ordered Leman to count 168 of the booklets. The measure is sponsored by Linda Ronan, Georgia Mario and Timothy Hinterberger. Sponsors needed 28,783 signatures to put the measure on the ballot. Sponsors have said they expect it to fare better than an unsuccessful 2000 voter initiative that not only decriminalized marijuana, but made possible reparations for some drug convicts. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens