GROUPS FILE LAWSUIT FOR SMOKING INITIATIVES

A lawsuit challenging the disqualification of Nevada initiative petitions
to legalize the use of marijuana and to limit smoking in public places has
been filed in U.S. District Court.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union and the
Marijuana Policy Project, seeks to force Secretary of State Dean Heller to
forward the initiative petitions to the state Legislature.

Heller rejected the petitions in December and cited an attorney general's
opinion that the groups circulating the measures didn't collect enough
valid signatures. He rejected two measures to regulate smoking and the
marijuana measure.

"We followed all the state's rules from day one," said Neal Levine,
director of state policies for the Marijuana Policy Project. "Then, without
warning, they changed the rules after we turned in the petition. They have
violated our right to due process, and we fully expect to win in federal
court."

Gary Peck, ACLU executive director for Nevada, said, "To disqualify these
petitions is wrong constitutionally and defies common sense. The decision
disenfranchises tens of thousands of voters, deprives the petitioners of
their due process and First Amendment rights and undermines public
confidence in the initiative process and in government generally."

The decision by Heller not to submit the petitions to the Legislature is
being challenged in state court also. Carson City District Judge Bill
Maddox will decide in a Feb. 7 hearing how many signatures the petitions
need to qualify.

The three groups acted on advice from Heller's office and voting registrars
that they needed 51,337 signatures to qualify. Each petition exceeded that
total, which was based on the 2002 voter turnout.

But the petitions were turned in after the 2004 general election, and the
attorney general's opinion said a higher number, 83,156 signatures, was
required based on the more recent voter turnout.