MEDICAL MARIJUANA: SENATOR SEEKS PROTECTION FOR USERS

Rawson: Bill Must Deal With Arrest Threat.

Senate Human Resources Chairman Ray Rawson said Wednesday that he
wants to change a bill creating a medical marijuana program in Nevada
and ensure pot users are not subject to federal arrest.

"I don't want to set up something that gives people the impression
they are OK (to use marijuana) because the feds may still bust them,"
said Rawson, R-Las Vegas. "I don't have an answer yet."

Rawson's committee conducted an hour hearing on Assembly Bill 453, the
bill by Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, that would put
into effect the voter-approved constitutional amendment to let doctors
recommend marijuana to AIDS, cancer and other patients. Approved
patients would be permitted to grow as many as seven marijuana plants
in their homes.

The bill was approved 30-12 by the Assembly on May 23 despite a U.S.
Supreme Court decision that struck down a medical marijuana program in
California. Some observers thought the ruling meant the death of
Nevada's program.

After the meeting Wednesday, Rawson said that while lawyers decided
that the state can create the medical marijuana program, he still
thinks it would be subject to federal challenge and could be tossed
out in court.

In the unanimous Supreme Court decision, justices ruled that marijuana
is an illegal drug under federal law for which no exception exists for
medical purposes.

Rawson said he will meet today with Sens. Mark Amodei, R-Carson City,
and Valerie Wiener, D-Las Vegas, in a subcommittee that will try to
devise a new version of the bill.

He said he was not confident that a compromise could be reached and
the amended bill passed by both houses before the Legislature adjourns
Monday.

"If the other house is agreeable to what we do, then absolutely we can
do it in time," Rawson said.

Amodei did not like other provisions of the bill that would make
possession of an ounce or less of marijuana a misdemeanor, punishable
by a $600 fine. A second arrest for possession also would be a
misdemeanor, while a third arrest would be a gross
misdemeanor.

Judges should be able to send repeat offenders to prison, Amodei said.
The subcommittee might put Amodei's changes into the bill.

Rather than allowing patients to grow their own marijuana and risk
federal arrest, Rawson prefers setting up a federally approved
research program under which some patients could use marijuana.

But Dan Hart, the leader of Nevadans for Medical Rights, objected to
the research program. He said he doubts that the federal government
would approve such a program.

And he said that the voter-approved constitutional amendment was
specific: The Legislature must create a full-fledged medical marijuana
program.

Giunchigliani said legislators are respecting the will of voters and
not promoting drug use.

"The public knows what they were voting on," she said. "We should not
undermine their position."

"We can't put people in violation of federal law," Rawson
responded.

After the hearing, Rawson questioned whether people would have backed
the marijuana amendment if they realized that using marijuana could
subject them to the loss of their freedom and property.

"You can go back to the Civil War and say that was the will of the
people in the South," he said. "Does that make it right? No."