UPFRONT - PUNT, PASS AND PUFF

When Do We Get To Smoke?

Though the U.S. Supreme Court said they wouldn't inhale, Nevadans have
hit the ground smoking on the medical marijuana issue.

The Supreme Court has been merciful to our state, whose citizens have
won the right to use marijuana for medicinal purposes. Despite the
Court's unanimous decision--loudly declaring even the most insufferable
illnesses, such as cancer and AIDS, to be an inadequate excuse for
legalizing marijuana--they didn't rule to override those states that
have voted for, or that already distribute "medipot."

So Nevada, whose citizens voted twice for medical marijuana--in both
1998 and 2000--gets to keep its weed. Now it's just up to the Nevada
State Legislature to establish the machinery to make medical marijuana a
reality.

To that end, Nevada Assemblywoman and Bill 453 sponsor Chris
Giunchigliani is back on the bong, er, ball. As of this writing, the
bill appears to be gaining acceptance by both Democrats and Republicans.

"I amended the bill to accept gifts and grants. It goes into effect in
October 2001," Chris G. says. She expects the program to be
self-sufficient through an as-yet undetermined registration fees.

The bill recently passed in the Assembly, though six Clark County
legislators voted against it. Naysayers Joe Oceguera (D-Las Vegas) and
John Lee (D-Las Vegas) and Sandra Tiffany (R-Henderson), Kathy Von Tobel
(R-Las Vegas), Barbara Cegavske (R-Las Vegas) and David Brown
(R-Henderson) united in a bipartisan round of shadow boxing in the face
of logic.

Despite the Assembly's passage, State Sen. Ray Rawson (R-Las Vegas)--a
dentist who enjoys woodworking--is proposing amendments that could delay
the bill from passing in this session. He wants to make sure that folks
involved in the medicinal marijuana program won't be subject to
penalties on a federal level.

Another obstacle involves members of the state Senate who have also
voiced their ever-conservative concerns about a section of the bill to
reduce possession of marijuana from a felony to a misdemeanor, with a
$600 fine. Aside from the fact that Nevada has the strictest marijuana
laws in the country, Chris G. points out that most marijuana possession
cases are already reduced to misdemeanors in court anyway: Making it a
law isn't going to hurt anyone.

And just to make sure that pot-cultivation doesn't get out of hand,
Chris G. noted that the new pot bill includes an amendment stating that
no more than three mature and four immature cannabis plants can be grown
by a licensed user at one time, and no more than one ounce may be in
their possession.

Editor's note: We got our tokin' majority. The bill passed Monday.