SENATE CONSIDERS MARIJUANA, KIDS BILL

Nevada parents who grow a single marijuana plant in their home where
children live could be subject to a prison term of up to 15 years,
according to a bill that was debated Monday at the Nevada Legislature.

Senate Bill 5, sponsored by state Sen. Joe Heck, R-Las Vegas, would
subject parents who grow or sell marijuana in the presence of
children to the same penalties as adults who operate methamphetamine
labs in front of children.

Lawmakers approved a bill in 2005 that created tough prison sentences
for people who cook meth, or manufacture or sell any illegal drugs in
the presence of children as a way to fight the meth epidemic that
many lawmakers say is sweeping Nevada.

Selling and growing marijuana was left out of the 2005 legislation,
so now, Heck wants to include it.

"You are exposing children to dangers when you are selling any
illegal substance out of your house or growing any illegal substance
out of your house, so you should be held to the higher penalties,"
Heck told the Senate Human Services and Education Committee.

"If a guy has a couple of (marijuana) plants in there (now), he could
be out in a week," Heck said. "But if there is a child present, with
this, now he could serve five to 15 years for exposing that child to
the dangers of this activity."

Members of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada and the Clark
County Public Defenders office said the bill needs to be re-written
to exclude parents who grow small amounts of marijuana. "The way the
bill is currently drafted states that someone could be growing
marijuana for their personal use and not for the purposes of
distributing it, selling it or engaging in drug trafficking and they
would be treated as if they were engaged in those activities," said
Gary Peck, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada.

The new law could negatively impact Nevada's overflowing prison
population, said Peck, who noted the Nevada Department of Corrections
is seeking $300 million over the next two years for prison
construction projects.

"No one who is testifying in support of the bill can actually talk
about the implications in respect to the incarceration rate," Peck said.

"What we could be doing is shooting fleas with cannons and that is
unfortunate," Peck said. Children who are in the same home where
marijuana is grown are in danger, Heck said.

"The very behavior of small children puts them at risk around these
materials, including marijuana," Heck said. "As any parent knows, the
first place a toddler places anything they find is in their mouth.
What if this object is a marijuana plant?"

A representative of the Clark County public defender office said his
organization did not advocate the legalization, cultivation or use of
marijuana, but the law that provides penalties for parents who cook
meth in front of children or sell other illegal drugs in front of
children should not be applied to those who may grow a few marijuana plants.

"The reason that statute was written the way is was is because meth
labs have a tendency to explode and the chemical components, the
fumes and the chemical burns -- the exposure to those -- were the
reasons for the greater penalties," said public defender Jason
Frierson. "As I read it, this is treating the growth of one marijuana
plant similarly with the existence of a meth lab in the presence of children."

Chairman Maurice Washington, R-Sparks, said he would like to pass the
bill out of committee but urged, Frierson and Heck to iron out differences.

Reno officials, the Nevada District Attorneys Association, the Nevada
Sheriffs and Chiefs Association and the Peace Officers Research
Association of Nevada spoke in favor of the bill.

"It is our belief that anytime you have drugs and children together,
it is a dangerous combination, a dangerous mix," said Kristin
Erickson, a Washoe County deputy district attorney speaking for the
state association.

Increased penalties for smoking marijuana in front of children are
not part of the bill, Heck said.

"We're not trying to lock to up -- as much as I would like to --
somebody for smoking a doobie in front of their kids," Heck said. "We
are looking at the person who is selling out of their house and
growing out of the house and exposing those children to those dangers."