The State : AIDS Test Measure Near OK for Ballot

A bid by followers of Lyndon LaRouche to qualify a ballot measure forcing people in some occupations to be tested for the AIDS virus is reportedly on the verge of success. “They’re going over the top,” according to Melissa Warren of the secretary of state’s office. “We ought to be announcing this initiative for the November ballot on Tuesday.” As of the weekend, the number of signatures needed to qualify the measure neared the required 394,000, with returns from Los Angeles, San Diego and Sacramento still uncounted, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The measure, which would bar infected people from working as food handlers, teachers and school administrators or from attending classes in state schools, is sponsored by the Prevent AIDS Now Initiative Committee and was authored by Khushro Ghandi, Western regional head of LaRouche’s National Democratic Policy committee. It is opposed by public health officials as unscientific, and gays are organizing a major campaign to defeat it.