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- NATION, Page 47American NotesALASKAWill They Just Vote No?
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- For 15 years, the right of Alaskans to smoke grass at home
- has been as commonplace as the privilege of watching a moose
- graze in the backyard. But antidrug crusaders, who expect to
- be bolstered this week by a visit from federal drug czar
- William Bennett, are pressing voters to recriminalize the
- private possession of small amounts of marijuana -- made legal
- in 1975 by a court privacy decision -- this November. Says
- Marie Majewske of Alaskans for the Recriminalization of
- Marijuana: "When a drug is perceived to be socially acceptable,
- it is used and abused a great deal more."
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- Nonsense, say opponents. The ballot measure targets one of
- the least dangerous drugs, they claim, and ignores the far more
- serious problems posed by alcohol in Alaska. More
- fundamentally, argue ads launched by Alaskans for Privacy this
- month, the campaign is "about the government telling you what
- you can eat, drink or smoke in your own home." Poll tallies
- taken before the latest privacy offensive show the anti-pot
- initiative passing 60% to 40%.
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