Legalization Defeated in Alaska; Calif. Treatment Plan Approved November 8, 2000
News Summary
A ballot initiative in Alaska that would have legalized possession of marijuana and hemp appeared headed to defeat by a 2-to-1 margin, but California voters approved a plan to mandate treatment for non-violent offenders instead of incarceration, Reuters reported Nov. 8. The Alaska measure would have eliminated all criminal penalties for adult marijuana possession, given doctors the right to prescribe marijuana as a drug, and given amnesty to those convicted of marijuana-related crimes. Until 1990, possession of small amounts of pot in Alaska was legal.
A measure to decriminalize marijuana possession in Mendocino County, Calif., looked destined to be narrowly approved, however.
Colorado and Nevada voters reportedly approved a medical marijuana bill, making nine U.S. states and the District of Columbia that now provide for medicinal use of the drug.
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