Pubdate: Wed, 05 Nov 2014
Source: Albuquerque Journal (NM)
Copyright: 2014 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Contact:  http://www.abqjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/10
Author: David Crary, the Associated Press
Page: A6

POT LEGALIZATION GAINS GROUND WITH VOTES IN OREGON, D.C.

NEW YORK (AP) - Voters in Oregon and the District of Columbia 
approved ballot measures Tuesday allowing the use of marijuana by 
adults, elating legalization activists who hope to extend their 
winning streak across the country.

Oregon will join the company of Colorado and Washington state, where 
voters approved the recreational use of pot two years ago. And the 
District of Columbia is on the same path unless Congress, which has 
review power, blocks the move.

Still to come were results from Alaska, which also had a 
marijuana-legalization measure on its ballot Tuesday.

Other volatile issues on state ballots include gambling and abortion. 
Two competing measures in Washington state gave voters a choice on 
whether to expand background checks for gun sales.

The District of Columbia's marijuana measure does not provide for the 
legal sale of marijuana, leaving that matter up to the D.C. Council. 
That's different from the measures in Oregon and Alaska, which would 
follow the example of Colorado and Washington state in setting up 
systems for regulating and taxing retail sales of marijuana.

The Drug Policy alliance, one of the leaders of the legalization 
campaign, said Tuesday's results would bolster its efforts to push 
through a ballot measure in California in 2016

"The pace of reform is accelerating, other states are sure to follow, 
and even Congress is poised to wake from its slumber," said Ethan 
Nadelmann, the alliance's executive director.

The campaign in D.C. included a debate about race - the measure's 
supporters said blacks in the city had been disproportionately 
targeted for marijuana arrests.

Gary Fulwood, a support staffer for the city's fire and EMS 
department, voted for the initiative.

"The criminal justice system is getting bogged down by marijuana use, 
and a lot of the people who use marijuana aren't criminals," Fulwood 
said. "I don't see it being any worse than alcohol."

In Florida, a measure that would have allowed marijuana use for 
medical reasons fell short of the 60 percent approval to pass; 
near-complete returns showed it getting about 57 percent of the vote. 
Twenty-three states allow medical marijuana.

Some of the other questions before voters Tuesday:

In Colorado and North Dakota, voters rejected measures that opponents 
feared could lead to bans on abortion.

The Colorado proposal would have added "unborn human beings" to the 
state's criminal code. It was the third measure on Colorado ballots 
in recent years seeking to grant "personhood" to the unborn.

North Dakota voters rejected an amendment that would have declared in 
the state constitution "the inalienable right to life of every human 
being at every stage of development must be recognized and protected."

In Tennessee, voters approved a measure that will give state 
legislators more power to regulate abortion. Opponents fear it will 
lead to tough new laws that would jeopardize women's access to abortions.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom