NEVADA POLICE GROUP REVERSES ENDORSEMENT OF MARIJUANA MEASURE

Nevada's largest police organization ousted its president Friday and
reversed his endorsement of a statewide initiative that would let adults
legally possess up to 3 ounces of marijuana.

The Nevada Conference of Police and Sheriffs issued a statement blaming
former president Andy Anderson for a"misunderstanding"and declared that the
executive board had not endorsed decriminalizing marijuana when Anderson
polled them Tuesday.

"NCOPS does not endorse Question 9,"it said, referring to the measure's
number on the Nov. 5 ballot,"nor will it support any measure for the
decriminalization or legalization of marijuana."

Anderson, one of the founding members of the 23-year-old advocacy
organization, could not immediately be reached for comment. NCOPS
represents about 3,000 mostly southern Nevada law enforcement officers _
about two-thirds of police in the state.

Billy Rogers, head of Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement, the main
political group supporting the measure, insisted that the NCOPS board had
unanimously supported Question 9 before Anderson made the endorsement public.

"There was tremendous pressure from the politicians and the law enforcement
establishment to get these board members to change their minds,"Rogers said
Friday.

The NCOPS endorsement had echoed the Nevadans for Responsible Law
Enforcement position that taxpayer dollars and law enforcement time are
wasted prosecuting minor drug offenders.

"Its a priority issue,"Anderson told The Associated Press on Tuesday."We
just feel we could use our resources better. Why waste our time with
marijuana arrests?"

The position drew national media attention and howls from police and
prosecutors, including Deputy Clark County District Attorney Gary Booker
who said Friday that 3 ounces of marijuana can make 200 or more marijuana
cigarettes _ far more than needed for personal use. Passing Question 9
would undercut drunken-driving prosecutions, Booker has said.

The endorsement also raised the profile of a campaign that has drawn recent
visits to Nevada from federal Drug Enforcement Agency Director Asa
Hutchinson and federal"drug czar"John P. Walters to underscore the Bush
administration's opposition to the measure.

Two statewide polls in recent weeks have found voters evenly split on the
proposal, with about 10 percent undecided.

Until last year, Nevada had the strictest marijuana law in the nation _
making it a felony to possess a single marijuana cigarette. Now, possessing
an ounce or less is a misdemeanor.

The initiative would allow marijuana to be sold only in state-licensed and
taxed smoke shops. Possession by minors would still be a crime, public use
would be banned and driving under the influence would be illegal. Sales by
private individuals would be prohibited.

The measure would have to pass twice _ in November and again in 2004 _ to
become law.