Pubdate: Wed, 20 Oct 2004
Source: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (AK)
Copyright: 2004 Fairbanks Publishing Company, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.news-miner.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/764
Author: Dan Joling, Associated Press Writer
Cited: Yes on 2 http://www.yeson2alaska.com
Referenced: Anchorage Press article 
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n1441/a01.html
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/marijuana+initiative
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

MARIJUANA MEASURE BACKERS SUE OVER OPPOSITION ACCOUNT

ANCHORAGE--A group pushing the ballot measure to legalize marijuana
sued Lt. Gov. Loren Leman on Tuesday over his office's role in writing
a statement of opposition in the Official Election Pamphlet.

Yes on 2 seeks a court declaration that the role of Leman's office in
writing the opposition statement to Proposition 2 was improper and
unconstitutional.

The lawsuit also requests that the lieutenant governor acknowledge
that his office acted improperly and distribute that information to
voters.

Leman was traveling outside Delta Junction and could not be reached
for immediate comment. His chief of staff, Annette Kreitzer, said the
office had done nothing improper.

"I don't believe they have any statutory or constitutional grounds to
bring the suit," she said. "I think it's about publicity for
legalizing marijuana in Alaska."

Kreitzer acknowledged last week that she had prepared much of the
300-word statement opposing the initiative in the voters guide. The
statement was signed by Dr. Charles M. Herndon, medical director at
Providence Breakthrough, a drug and alcohol treatment center.

Ballot Measure 2 would make it legal under state law for people 21 and
older to grow, use, sell or give away marijuana. It also would allow
for state regulation and taxation of marijuana.

Kreitzer said that with the deadline looming for printing the
pamphlet, she put together notes for an opposition view to the ballot
measure. When Herndon agreed to write the statement, she said, she
sent the notes to him.

"I would have done this for the other side too," she said. "I know
that's hard for people to believe."

The choice was Herndon's to use or discard, she said. She said she was
surprised that Herndon made minimal changes.

"If I had known I was going to write a statement, I would have done a
better job," she said.

The voter pamphlet was sent to 300,000 Alaska voters.

The wording similarity was revealed last week in a story by the
Anchorage Press, a weekly newspaper.

Ken Jacobus, a volunteer attorney for Yes on 2, said the actions by
the lieutenant governor's office compromised the election process.

Tim Hinterberger, one of the measure's sponsors, said it was
outrageous that Leman and his staff ghostwrote the opposition statement.

"It's clear to us that he has crossed the line of neutrality, and if
he has not directly violated his office, he most certainly has
violated the spirit of his elected office," Hinterberger said.

No pamphlet statement on an initiative has ever before been prepared
by the lieutenant governor's office and no side has ever been notified
that they had that right, the lawsuit said.

"The only significant duty of the lieutenant governor is to run
impartial elections and he can't even get that right," Hinterberger
said.

Hinterberger said the disagreement with the statement is more on
process than content.

There are medical issues in the use of marijuana, he said, as pointed
out in the anti-marijuana statement, which is why it should be dealt
with by the medical community and not law enforcement.

"Even if it were as bad as portrayed, it's not something that people
should be put in prison for," he said.

The lawsuit claimed Leman's office had access to the pamphlet
statement in support of the ballot measure, a contention Kreitzer denied.

Kreitzer said Leman cannot escape his public record in the Legislature
as a marijuana opponent. Ballot measure supporters are trying to use
that to their advantage, she said. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake