Nev. to vote on legalizing pot

Ariz. To Vote On Decriminalization

LAS VEGAS - The state that legalized cathouses and craps is now
considering condoning cannabis.

A voters initiative on the November ballot would permit possession in
Nevada of up to 3 ounces of marijuana by persons 21 and older. They
would be allowed to smoke it in the privacy of their homes, but not in
vehicles or public places.

While law enforcement officials are railing against the measure, state
officials are quietly pondering how the state-licensed sale and
taxation of marijuana may stoke the state's coffers by tens of
millions of dollars annually.

Legalizing marijuana by amending the state constitution is a two-step
process. If a simple majority of voters approve the measure in
November, it would need to be reaffirmed by voters in 2004.

The second vote could be avoided if the measure is adopted next year
by the state Legislature, which already has decriminalized possession
of marijuana. That course is considered unlikely because most
politicians, including Republican Gov. Kenny Guinn, are not taking a
stand on the issue, saying they will defer to the voters' wishes.

State polls suggest Nevada voters are about evenly split on the
question. In its editorials, the Las Vegas Review-Journal newspaper
has said the measure "would end the needless harassment of individuals
who peacefully and privately use marijuana."

Nevada may seem a logical place to test the issue because of the
state's renowned live-and-let-live philosophy, as already manifested
through its extensive gambling and rural houses of prostitution. And
as a practical matter, the debate can be financially waged in just one
media market, here. Clark County is home to two-thirds of the state's
residents. But it is also its most unpredictable political audience
because of the region's explosive growth of non-Nevada transplants
over the past decade. Most of rural Nevada is conservative; Las Vegas
is not.

The $375,000-petition drive, which collected more than 100,000
signatures to qualify the measure for the ballot, was spearheaded by
the Washington-based Marijuana Policy Project. One of its policy
directors, Billy Rogers, took a leave of absence to head the local
campaign under the moniker Nevadans for Responsible Law
Enforcement.

Among public officials, the most vocal supporter of the measure is
Chris Giunchigliani, a schoolteacher and Democrat assemblywoman in
Nevada's part-time legislature.

"We shouldn't be making criminals out of casual, at-home adult users,"
said Giunchigliani, who last year successfully rallied legislative
support to reduce the penalty for possessing small amounts of
marijuana from a felony to a misdemeanor.

"This measure is reasonably well written and gets to the heart of the
matter: Our drug policy hasn't been working," she said. "We've created
a subculture of criminals among otherwise law-abiding citizens."

If the initiative becomes law, Nevada officials would have to
determine who would grow the marijuana (some suggest the state's
agriculture department), and how to make it available through
state-licensed retail outlets.

The notion of mining marijuana sales as a state revenue source, as the
initiative calls for, is enticing, Giunchigliani said. "If people are
going to smoke it, we might as well tax it and get some funding out of
it," she said.

Nevada, which does not tax personal or nongambling corporate income,
is casting about for additional state revenue, and the casino industry
is resisting perennial suggestions that gambling profits be taxed more.

Opposition to the marijuana initiative has not yet organized under a
single banner, but law enforcement officials throughout the state are
criticizing it.

Among the most adamant is Dick Gammick, the Washoe County district
attorney in Reno.

"I don't support legalizing any drugs until the Food and Drug
Administration says it's a beneficial drug that can be allowed in the
system," he said. "But for now, it remains a Schedule One controlled
substance, right up there with the most dangerous drugs we have."

Ariz. to vote on decriminalization

Nevada is one of nine states, including Arizona, that allows the use
of marijuana with a doctor's prescription, and one of 11 states that
has lowered criminal sanctions for possession of marijuana.

Arizona voters will decide in November whether to further ease
penalties for pot. Proposition 203 would make possession of 2 ounces
or less of marijuana a civil violation punishable by a fine of no more
than $250. The could be waived by taking a drug education class.

Ohio has the nation's most lenient marijuana possession laws, issuing
a civil citation and fining $100 for possession of up to 100 grams
(about 3.5 ounces) of marijuana, according to the National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

Cited: Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement ( www.nrle.org )

Cited: Marijuana Policy Project ( www.mpp.org )

Cited: National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws ( www.norml.org )

Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?162 (Nevadans for Responsible Law
Enforcement)

Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?163 (Question 9 (NV))