Source: Washington Post (DC)
Contact: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Copyright: 1998 The Washington Post Company
Pubdate:  Wed, 2 Dec 1998
Compiled from reports by staff writers Paul W. Valentine, Bill Miller,
David Montgomery, Alan Sipress, Philip P. Pan and Victoria Benning and the
Associated Press.

THE DISTRICT

GROUPS SEEK RESULTS OF MARIJUANA VOTE

The D.C. chapter of the League of Women Voters and eight other area
organizations filed court papers this week calling for a judge to release
and uphold the results of the Nov. 3 referendum on the medical use of
marijuana.

The groups sided with the American Civil Liberties Union and the D.C.
government, which contend that Congress illegally interfered with the local
election process. At issue is a congressional amendment that bars the
District from spending money on any initiative that would "legalize or
otherwise reduce" penalties for users of marijuana.

D.C. officials have not released results of the marijuana vote, saying that
the amendment prevents them from spending money to do so. Along with the
ACLU, they are asking U.S. District Judge Richard W. Roberts to set aside
the congressional action and let results be made public and take effect.

The organizations opposing the congressional amendment include: the D.C.
Democratic State Committee; the D.C. Statehood Party; the Metropolitan
Washington Council of the AFL-CIO; the D.C. Chapter of the Republican
National African-American Council; the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance;
the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club; the Libertarian National Committee; and
the Greater Washington chapter of Americans for Democratic Action.

The Justice Department, which agreed to represent Congress, filed its own
set of court papers asking Roberts to dismiss the lawsuit.

Late Activist Honored for AIDS Day

The D.C. Council passed a resolution yesterday honoring Steve Michael, the
founder of the local chapter of ACT-UP, an AIDS activist group, who died in
May.

David Catania (R-At Large), who introduced the resolution, said it was
fitting on World AIDS Day to honor the activist. Michael, who had AIDS, was
also a leader in home rule demonstrations and launched the petition drive
that succeeded in getting a medical marijuana initiative on the Nov. 3
ballot, although Congress passed a law forbidding the District to fund the
provision.

Wayne Turner, Michael's partner, said in remarks before the council that
the "best way to honor the dead is to fight for the living," and he urged
the council to support measures to slow the spread of AIDS.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Only a few years ago, it was a forest filled with drugs and anger. From
the ghetto to compared to right now, I know I am stretching it, but it is
like Beverly Hills."

- -- Shawn Johnson, who lived at Montana Terrace for nearly 20 years, on
renovations to the D.C. Housing Authority project. -- Page B1

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Checked-by: Joel W. Johnson