NEVADA SET TO LOOSEN POT POSSESSION LAW

CARSON CITY (AP) - Seriously ill patients should be able to use
marijuana for medical purposes, Nevada lawmakers decided Monday, in a
vote that puts the state on a potential collision course with the
federal government.

The Assembly vote on the last day of the legislative session also
relaxes one of the toughest drug possession laws in the nation,
downgrading the charge for possession of small amounts from a felony to
a misdemeanor.

The state Assembly concurred in Senate amendments to the medical
marijuana-defelonization bill and sent the measure to Gov. Kenny Guinn,
who is expected to sign it.

''I think it's time that Nevada closed the door on antiquated drug
policies and reduced possession of an ounce or less to a misdemeanor and
focused its efforts on prevention and treatment,'' said Assemblywoman
Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas.

The bill lets seriously ill Nevadans have up to seven marijuana plants
for personal use. A state registry would be created for patients whose
doctors recommend they use marijuana for medical reasons.

Other amendments allow the state to apply to the federal government for
permission to sponsor medical research into whether marijuana helped
ease pain, nausea or other symptoms of seriously ill patients. Also, the
state Department of Agriculture could apply to the federal government
for a seed lab.

For people other than registered patients, possession of an ounce or
less of marijuana would be a misdemeanor carrying a $600 fine, with
escalating fines for subsequent offenses. Possession would not become a
felony until the fourth offense.

Under current law, regarded as one of the toughest of its kind in the
nation, Nevada makes it a felony to possess an ounce or less of
marijuana. Violations can lead to prison terms. In a minor marijuana
case, probation is mandatory, but violating probation can lead to prison
terms of up to four years.

Nevadans voted overwhelmingly in 1998 and 2000 to amend the Nevada
Constitution to authorize use of marijuana by those suffering from
cancer, AIDS, glaucoma and other painful and potentially terminal
illnesses.

The task of implementing the voters' mandate was left to the
Legislature. The lawmakers took action despite a recent U.S. Supreme
Court ruling in a California case that a federal law classifying the
drug as illegal makes no exception for ill patients.

The high court's action leaves those distributing the drug for that
purpose open to prosecution

Besides Nevada, voters in Arizona, Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine,
Oregon and Washington have approved ballot initiatives allowing medical
marijuana. In Hawaii, the legislature passed a similar law and the
governor signed it last year.