MARIJUANA INITIATIVE DEBATE INTENSIFIES

Sparks teenager Chris Palmer says he smokes marijuana regularly, has been
busted for it once and wants Nevada voters to approve a controversial
initiative on the Nov. 5 ballot that would legalize limited use of pot.

"If anything it relaxes me," said Palmer, 19. "It's a real timid drug."

Question 9, if passed, would set in motion a process that could end up
letting Palmer, once he turned 21, and other adults in the state to possess
up to three ounces of marijuana at a time without penalty.

"You're not hurting anyone," Palmer said of his pot use. "It's your own
choice."

But Gov. Kenny Guinn and a lineup of Nevada's law enforcement officials
opposing Question 9, including Washoe County District Attorney Richard
Gammick, disagree.

"It calls for legalizing three ounces of marijuana," Gammick said of the
initiative. "That's enough to make 90 to 120 cigarettes. That's a big supply."

Guinn last week announced his opposition to the ballot measure, which,
along with allowing adults to use pot, would establish a state system to
produce, distribute and tax medical marijuana.

"The state is supposed to get involved in the cultivation and taxation of
this stuff?" Gammick asked.

Under the state's medical marijuana law passed by the Legislature in 2001,
patients prescribed pot by a doctor can grow their own for use at home.

But Question 9 backers claim the law forces medical users to obtain
marijuana from drug dealers.

Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, who sponsored the medical
marijuana bill, supports Question 9.

"It comes down to this, our policy isn't working," said Giunchigliani, a
special education teacher.

The ballot measure, according to Giunchigliani, would give medical
marijuana users a supply source and take pot away from teenagers, such as
Palmer, because it limits legal possession to those 21 and older.

"I'm tired of young people getting access to marijuana," Giunchigliani said.

Initiative backers say the legislation limits possession to three ounces
because that's considered a month's supply for medical users.

If voters approve Question 9, the debate won't end. For the initiative to
become law it must be passed again in the 2004 general election.

Retired Reno police officer Ron Dreher, a lobbyist for law enforcement
organizations at the Legislature, criticizes Question 9 and Giunchigliani.

"She's a teacher and she's supporting smoking dope," said Dreher, president
of the Peace Officers Research Association of Nevada. "I'm aghast at this."

But Bryan Jackson, 21, of Reno, who says he uses pot, favors Question 9 and
plans to vote for it.

"I think it's great," Jackson said. "In your own home, it's your choice."

Palmer says he was busted by law enforcement officers for marijuana
possession on a trip in Arizona. Palmer said he was required to undergo
regular drug testing for a year after the incident.

"I started smoking again right after that," Palmer said. "I'm tired of
being persecuted for my choice."

Dreher insists smoking marijuana is more than a personal choice. He claims
the decision often results in a chain of events that ends with crime,
including murder.

"I did death investigations of infants left in bathtubs as a result of
people on drugs," Dreher said of his work as a Reno police detective.
"That's a direct result of drug abuse. Approximately 98 percent of those
parents had drugs in their system. Violent crimes are caused usually by
people who are on crank who started with marijuana."

Sparks Police Chief John Dotson agrees.

"We see a nexus there," Dotson, president of the Nevada Sheriffs and Chiefs
Association, said of drugs and crime. "It's a relationship."

Billy Rogers, a Texan based in Las Vegas to direct the pro-Question 9
effort, claims law enforcement agencies waste their time on arrests for
possessions of small amounts of pot.

"It could have been better spent going after murderers, rapists and other
violent criminals,i said Rogers, campaign manager for Nevadans for
Responsible Law Enforcement. "I had friends growing up who were arrested
for small amounts of marijuana. They went through a tremendous ordeal."

State officials claim Question 9 is being pushed in Nevada by out-of-state
people who want to make marijuana legal across the country. Gammick reports
that a group based in Washington, D.C., the Marijuana Policy Project, is
part of the effort.

"There is one small provision that deals with medical marijuana,i Gammick
said of Question 9. "It's about 90-percent non-medical marijuana."

Gammick also said the initiative, if passed, would conflict with federal law.

That's a problem for the federal government, according to Giunchigliani,
not Nevada.

"It tells the federal government to get out of our business," she said.
"It's a state's rights issue."

Gammick claims the proposed legislation would weaken laws against driving
under the influence of drugs and would allow marijuana use outside the home.

"The ads (for Question 9) say it guarantees you can smoke in the privacy of
your own home," Gammick said. "That's not what the bill says. It says
anyplace that's not public."

The initiative says it would be against the law to use pot in a "vehicle or
public place" and "drive dangerously" while "under the influence of marijuana."

The wording, instead of saying simply "driving under the influence,"
according to Gammick, sets up the possibility of legal arguments about
what's dangerous driving, along with what's a public place.