Pubdate: Mon, 27 Feb 2006 Source: Sacramento Bee (CA) Section: Pg A8 27 Feb 2006Author: Laura Mecoy, Bee Los Angeles Bureau Copyright: 2006 The Sacramento Bee Contact: http://www.sacbee.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/376 Note: Does not publish letters from outside its circulation area. Author: Laura Mecoy, Bee Los Angeles Bureau BALLOT SUCCESS IN STATE DIDN'T SPREAD Five years ago, Proposition 36 supporters hailed its approval as a resounding rejection of the nation's war on drugs and a harbinger for similar laws around the country. Since then, only one state - Hawaii - has adopted a comparable law mandating treatment instead of jail for drug offenders. "We would like to see it picked up in other states, but we don't necessarily have millions on hand to run voter initiatives, and not every state has voter initiatives," said Glenn Backes, who founded the Drug Policy Alliance's capital office and recently left the organization. After the California victory, voters in three other states either rejected measures similar to Proposition 36 or legal problems kept the proposals off the ballot. By 2004, the next election cycle, the initiative's wealthy backers had switched their focus from the war on drugs to the war in Iraq and the defeat of President Bush. Billionaires George Soros and Peter Lewis - two of the three who financed the Proposition 36 campaign - donated about $23 million each in 2004 to unsuccessful campaigns to unseat Bush, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. That made them two of the largest individual contributors in the last presidential campaign but left the drug law campaigns without the millions in donations that had kept the movement alive. Soros and Lewis - along with billionaire John Sperling - had bankrolled Proposition 36 in 2000, a similar measure in Arizona in 1998 and medical marijuana initiatives in California and other states in previous years. From 1996 to 2001, they won 17 of 19 statewide elections for medical marijuana and reduced drug sentences. But the tide shifted in 2002. The opposition became more aggressive, and the billionaire-backed campaigns lost three out of four statewide initiatives. Arizona voters defeated a marijuana decriminalization proposal, Nevada voters rejected a marijuana legalization campaign and Ohio voters delivered a 2-to-1 defeat to a Proposition 36-style law. Legal challenges kept similar measures off the Florida and Michigan ballots. Hawaii was the only exception, and its Legislature - rather than the voters - adopted a law based on Proposition 36. The only significant electoral victory came in Washington, D.C. Voters overwhelmingly adopted a sweeping change patterned after Proposition 36 in 2002, but the courts struck it down. The other electoral successes came on local, non-binding referendums. Since then, Dave Fratello, Proposition 36 co-author, said the Drug Policy Alliance has focused mostly on state legislatures, including California. "There's a lot to be proud of here," Fratello said. "But we have been taking a lot of hits from people who opposed Proposition 36 from day one." The organization has actively lobbied legislators to defeat changes in the initiative and has contributed $117,900 to California legislators since 2002. Of that, $13,700 went to four Democratic members of the Assembly Public Safety Committee, where an effort to rewrite Proposition 36 stalled last year. Sen. Denise Ducheny, author of Senate Bill 803, said she's pushing for the changes again this year and is optimistic she will get them. "There is a commitment to move the bill ... so it could go into effect in time for next year's budget," the San Diego Democrat said. "Those of us who want to see this program work want to see the funding continued, but with accountability and with an expanded treatment option." - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman