NEVADA TAKES UP REFERENDUM ON POT

Even If Voters Move to Legalize up to 3 Ounces, Federal Law Supersedes

LAS VEGAS -- Smoking tobacco in public places may be illegal in other
states, but you can light up just about anywhere in Nevada.

Need a drink? They're free in most casinos, as long as you gamble.

Las Vegas Boulevard -- the aptly named Strip -- is crowded with hawkers
handing out pictures of naked women who will come to your hotel room for a
private strip tease or something more. Prostitution is legal in most parts
of Nevada.

And soon, you may be able to do something else in Nevada that you can't do
in any other state without a doctor's prescription: legally smoke marijuana.

If Nevada voters approve, it would no longer be a crime for anyone 21 or
older to possess up to 3 ounces of pot -- enough for between 150 and 250
marijuana cigarettes -- within the state's borders.

The reefer referendum has a long way to go before proponents can legally
fire up a joint. Even if it passes Nov. 5 -- early voting started Saturday
- -- under Nevada law it must be approved in a second referendum in 2004.

So far, polls show voters split evenly on the idea.

Proponents say legalizing pot would free police to work on more serious
crimes such as rape or murder. Opponents, led by law enforcement agencies,
say making another mind-altering drug legal would lead to other crimes,
from dangerous driving to sexual assaults to the use of harder drugs.

"I can't imagine how we can throw another illicit drug into the mix and
people can believe in any way, shape or form that it would be a good
thing," said Sgt. Rick Barela, spokesman for the Las Vegas Metro Police and
a police officer for more than 20 years.

Nonetheless, advocates' claims that smoking pot is good for medicinal
purposes -- cancer and AIDS treatment among them -- have put marijuana laws
under pressure nationwide, particularly in the West.

Eight states have legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes. All but one,
Maine, is in the West. Along with Nevada, the others are Colorado,
California, Washington, Oregon, Hawaii and Alaska.

In Arizona, voters will decide Nov. 5 whether to reduce the penalties for
possessing small amounts of marijuana from a felony with possible jail time
to a $250 civil fine. That referendum will also ask voters whether Arizona
should establish a state-run system to distribute free marijuana for
medicinal use.

In Ohio, voters will consider a referendum in November that could allow
people arrested for marijuana or other drugs to opt for state-funded drug
treatment instead of incarceration.

But for pot advocates, the Nevada initiative would be the big score. If it
passes, proponents say, look for other states to follow.

"Literally you're going to have tens of thousands of people who are
currently illegally using marijuana who will suddenly be legally using it,"
said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, a
Washington, D.C., group behind the Nevada measure.

The group is working on getting similar ballot initiatives elsewhere, and
was behind referendum efforts that failed in Florida and Washington, D.C.

"Hopefully it sends a message to other states that's loud and clear: The
people of one state at least are fed up with marijuana laws today," Kampia
said.

Even if Nevada and other states soften their marijuana laws, pot smokers
and police will still face a confusing conundrum when it comes to cannabis.

While local police might not be able to arrest recreational pot users,
possession of marijuana is illegal under federal law.

Federal drug czar John Walters, who is making marijuana a major target
because of its widespread use, has made his position on Western reefer
referendums clear.

During a swing through Arizona and Nevada this month, Walters called the
Arizona ballot initiative a "stupid, insulting con." In Nevada, he
chastised proponents of pot legalization, saying that he didn't think
Nevada should become a "center for drug tourism."

Exactly how federal law enforcement officials would react if the
initiatives pass, though, is unclear. Theoretically, federal agents could
crack down on marijuana users even if they weren't violating state law, but
Walter's office has stopped short of saying it would push to do that.

"What the director is saying, bottom line, is that federal law supersedes
state law," said Jennifer de Vallance, spokeswoman for the Office of
National Drug Control Policy.

According to the agency and others, smoking pot can lead to health problems
ranging from respiratory infections to memory loss and panic attacks.
Walters also has blamed marijuana usage for 20 percent of auto wrecks, and
considers it a "gateway" drug that can lead to addiction to more dangerous
drugs such as cocaine.

Advocates of marijuana disagree, saying that federal and local officials
simply refuse to acknowledge that they've wasted billions of dollars and
countless hours trying to eliminate a drug that's not that harmful.