VOTE MAY AFFECT NATIONAL POLICY

When Nevadans go to the polls on Nov. 5, they will find themselves on the
national stage - right in the middle of the long-running battle over marijuana.

Two years after they gave final approval to a measure that allows the use
of marijuana for medical purposes (though a workable system for
accomplishing that goal has yet to be developed), Nevadans this year are
being asked to go a step further by decriminalizing the possession of less
than 3 ounces of the drug altogether (selling it or providing it to
children would still be illegal).

The appearance of Question 9 on the November ballot (it will have to be
approved by voters twice to become law) clearly has gotten the attention of
national groups, both pro and anti, including the Bush administration. Last
month, Drug Enforcement Agency Director Asa Hutchinson and John P. Walters,
head of the government's Office of Drug Control Policy (the "drug czar"),
warned Nevadans to vote against the measure. In Las Vegas for a D.A.R.E.
convention, Walters said that the state would become a center of "drug
tourism" if it decriminalized marijuana. It would exacerbate the nation's
drug problem, he said, and he called the nationwide campaign "a great con."

Washoe County District Attorney Dick Gammick also warned against approving
Question 9, and a statewide police organization quickly retracted support
of the measure that had been announced by its executive director (he was
fired).

Pro-marijuana forces quickly came to the defense of the initiative. The
Gazette-Journal received letters from as far away as Hawaii to the west and
Massachusetts to the east touting the advantages of decriminalizing the
drug and denying the danger that the anti- marijuana forces most often cite
- - that it's a "gateway" drug that leads to the abuse of much more dangerous
drugs.

What makes this particularly difficult for Nevadans is that they are, in
effect, being asked to make national policy. Supporters hope that the
states will fall like dominoes once Nevada takes action until eventually
the federal government is forced by a rebellion of the states to change its
own marijuana policy. That puts a lot of pressure on Nevada voters that,
with the state's relatively small population, they are not used to.

Yet, with 2 1/2 months to go before the election, Nevadans appear to be
split on the merits of decriminalizing marijuana. A statewide Gazette-
Journal/News 4 poll found that 48 percent favor the measure and 48 percent
are opposed to it; 4 percent were undecided, a small percentage this far
before a vote.

To reach a consensus, however, they will have to peal away decades of
mythology and fear-mongering. What are the real dangers of smoking
marijuana? How does it fit into the overall drug problem? How many inmates
are really in our jails simply because they smoked a joint or two? How much
of the nation's law-enforcement resources are really being used to battle
marijuana use?

And they will have to look beyond their own prejudices to decide what
policy is really best for the state - and the nation. It's not a
comfortable position for the state to be in, but the chances are good that
the whole nation will be watching.