Marijuana Info in Alaska Voter Guide Criticized October 19, 2004
News Summary
Organizers of a ballot initiative to legalize marijuana in Alaska are up in arms over an anti-marijuana passage contained in the state's Official Election Pamphlet, which was sent to more than 300,000 households in the state, the Anchorage Daily News reported Oct. 18.The pamphlet provides information on each of the ballot initiatives. The section on Ballot Measure 2, which asks voters to legalize personal use of marijuana, contained a verbatim statement written by Lt. Gov. Loren Leman's office opposing the initiative.
Although the statement was signed by Dr. Charles Herndon, medical director of Providence Breakthrough, a drug and alcohol disorder treatment center, it was written by Leman's chief of staff, Annette Kreitzer.
"It's outrageous conduct," said initiative backer David Finkelstein. He and other proponents of the measure said the lieutenant governor is required to remain neutral on election issues.
Former U.S. Attorney Wev Shea said the statement could give marijuana advocates a valid court challenge if they lose. "I'm just totally disgusted," he said.
But Kreitzer said the statement meets the mandate under state law to present both sides of every ballot initiative.
Laura Glaiser, director of the Elections Division, said it was difficult to find opponents to the initiative with a medical background to write the statement.
"I took it on myself to begin work," said Kreitzer. She said information from an FBI website and facts about Alaska court decisions were used in crafting the statement. "I write a lot of speeches," Kreitzer said. "For me it was nothing more than a draft of a speech."
Herndon said he now regrets signing his name to the document. "If I had to do it all over again, I'd start from scratch and write it totally over," Herndon said. "I wouldn't change my position. My error in judgment was letting someone else do the writing of it."
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