California voters yesterday soundly defeated closely-watched Proposition 5 and another drug-related initiative, while Massachusetts and Michigan passed marijuana-related measures by wide margins. Voters in Maine, Oregon, and North Dakota also weighed in on statewide ballot issues related to alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.

Here is a roundup of yesterday's voting:

California's Proposition 5, the Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act (NORA), was defeated by a margin of roughly 60 percent to 40 percent, the Los Angeles Times reported today. The measure, which was closely watched nationwide by drug policy advocates on both sides of the issue, was dubbed "the biggest sentencing and prison reform in United States history" by Ethan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance and supported by many in the mainstream treatment community, but condemned by national drug-court advocates and California law-enforcement groups. NORA called for more funding for addiction treatment and less imprisonment of drug offenders; advocates stressed that it would increase funding for drug courts, but critics complained that NORA would have limited the ability of drug-court judges to jail drug offenders. (Read JoinTogether.org commentaries supporting and opposing Proposition 5.)

California's Proposition 6, dubbed the Safe Neighborhoods Act, failed by a margin of 70 percent to 30 percent, also according to the Los Angeles Times. The measure would have increased penalties on drug- and gang-related crime, including prosecuting gang-related offenders as young as 14 as adults. It would have also established criminal-background checks of public-housing residents and increased penalties for methamphetamine use or possession with intent to sell. Ironically, the lead financial backer of Proposition 6, Henry Nicholas, was arrested on drug charges earlier this year; other supporters include California law enforcement and some politicians. Opponents included the state Democratic Party, the League of Women Voters, and the California Teachers Association.

Measure 2 in Massachusetts, which will decriminalize adult possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, passed by a margin of 65 percent to 35 percent, the Boston Globe reports today. The Massachusetts Sensible Marijuana Policy Initiative, largely funded by drug-policy reformer and financier George Soros, establishes fines of no more than $100 for simple possession of marijuana rather than the current criminal penalties of up to six months in jail and fines of $500. Opponents included the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and the Massachusetts Association of Superintendents, as well as the state governor and mayor of Boston.

Michigan's medical-marijuana Proposal 1 passed and was leading by a margin of 63 percent to 37 percent with 87 percent of precincts reporting, the Detroit Free Press reported this morning. The new law will allow terminally and seriously ill patients to use marijuana for medical purposes with a physicians' approval, allow such patients to legally grow and possess certain amounts of the drug for their personal medical use, and create an ID-card system for medical use. Michigan becomes the 13th state to approve medical marijuana.

Oregon voters passed Measure 57, which mandates increased prison terms for those convicted of certain drug and property crimes and bars judges from imposing shorter sentences, but also directs the state to provide addiction treatment to first-time nonviolent offenders, the Oregonian reports today. A competing ballot measure, Oregon Ballot Measure 61, was also passing by a narrow margin but will not go into effect because Measure 57 received more votes. Measure 57 was written by the legislature and had broad support from the state's law-enforcement community and health, faith, and community groups that are part of the Better Way to Fight Crime Committee.

Oregon voters, on the other hand, rejected Measure 62, which would have alloted 15 percent of state lottery proceeds to crime prevention, investigation, and prosecution.

North Dakota voters approved Measure 3 by an unofficial margin of 54 percent in favor, the Grand Forks Herald reports today. The law will establish a tobacco prevention and control advisory committee, create a statewide tobacco-control plan, and set up a tobacco prevention trust fund for state tobacco-settlement money under the North Dakota Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Program Petition. The two-year, $18.6 million program will be financed by the state's share of the 1998 nationwide tobacco settlement.

In Maine, voters repealed a new tax that would have funded the state's healthcare-reform plan by raising taxes on beer, wine, and soft drinks in order to provide more Maine residents with health insurance. The so-called Dirigo tax repeal was winning by a margin of 64 percent to 36 percent, the Bangor Daily News reported this morning.

Portions of this report were adapted from previous original reporting by Bob Curley.

This report has been updated to reflect the following correction:

Correction, Nov. 5, 10:20 a.m.  As originally published this report stated that California's proposition 6 passed. The measure was defeated.