The State : AIDS Quarantine Ballot Initiative Gains

Backers of a proposed statewide ballot initiative to have AIDS declared a communicable disease subject to quarantine say they have collected almost 40% of the signatures needed to qualify the initiative for the November election. The Prevent AIDS Now Initiative Committee has gathered 120,00 to 150,000 of the 393,385 signatures required by May 24, according to Brian Lantz, a candidate in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary. The measure would make it illegal for people with acquired immune deficiency syndrome to engage in activities that would spread the fatal disease, which has been diagnosed primarily in homosexuals and in some blood transfusion recipients. State and federal health officials say the initiative is unnecessary and an attempt by some politicians to capitalize on public fear.