War Protests.

• Author: Sullum, Jacob
• Position: Votes on 2000 ballot initiatives send negative massage on war on drugs - Brief Article

The meaning of last fall's ridiculously close presidential contest may be hard to divine, but voters did send one pretty clear message on Election Day: The war on drugs has gone too far. Six state and four local ballot initiatives dealt with the issue, and most of the results suggested strong misgivings about current policy.

California's Proposition 36, the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act, passed with 61 percent of the vote. The law, similar to an Arizona initiative approved in 1996, prescribes treatment instead of jail for nonviolent drug offenders on their first and second convictions. The state Legislative Analyst's Office estimates that the new policy will reduce California's prison population by up to 36,000 inmates a year, with annual savings of nearly $300 million.

By votes of 65 percent and 54 percent, respectively, Nevada and Colorado approved initiatives permitting the medical use of marijuana, raising to nine the number of states with such laws. Because its initiative was a constitutional amendment, Nevada's vote was its second on the issue; 59 percent of voters had approved medical marijuana in 1998.

In Mendocino County, California, 58 percent of...