VOTERS REJECT MARIJUANA MEASURE

PISTOL Passes by Wide Margin

Nevada voters were just saying no to legalizing marijuana, welcoming a
hike in the state's minimum wage and keeping alive eminent domain
reform, among other decisions on ballot initiatives on Tuesday's ballot.

With at least 1,620 of 1,913 precincts statewide reporting, Question
7, which would have allowed Nevada residents 21 years of age or older
to possess an ounce of marijuana or less, was being rejected by 56
percent of voters. Only 44 percent were in support.

Las Vegas police Lt. Stan Olsen, who oversees legislative affairs for
the department and who worked against Question 7, said the measure,
the latest in a string of failed efforts to legalize the drug here,
was pushed by outsiders rather than Nevadans.

"They were trying to use us as a social experiment, as lab rats.
Voters are engaged. They're bright. This was a bad bill of goods, and
they knew it," Olsen said. "The voters didn't want it. The community
didn't want it. There's nothing good that can come out of legalizing
marijuana."

Despite the apparent loss, backers of the measure were heartened by
the turnout in favor of the measure.

"This will be the all-time biggest vote for ending marijuana
prohibition in the history of this country," said Neal Levine,
Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana campaign manager. "This is
an enormous amount of progress. Unfortunately, we fell a little bit
short."

Levine said his group would continue its efforts to win over Silver
State voters and "it is a 100 percent certainty this will be back on
the ballot" in 2008 or 2010.

Outside a Henderson polling place, Jim Taylor, a 50-year-old Henderson
Republican, said he was strongly against Question 7. "They want to
legalize marijuana, but I think that's not a solution, it actually
makes more of a problem," he said.

But 25-year-old Larry McKenzie, a Henderson voter who described
himself as independent, said he wanted the measure to pass.

"They waste so much time arresting people who smoke weed when they
could invest that cop time and jail space in worse crimes," McKenzie
said. "I have friends who are potheads. They're not going to change,
and they're not hurting anybody. My friends are very harmless."

Voters were backing Question 6, which would raise the minimum wage by
$1 an hour, to $6.15, on Jan. 1. Those in favor of passage led those
against, 69 percent to 31 percent.

Question 6 also would automatically tie future increases to changes in
the consumer price index.

"People know you can't live off of the minimum wage, much less eat off
the minimum wage," said Danny Thompson, executive secretary-treasurer
of the Nevada AFL-CIO labor union, which supported the measure.
"That's reflected in the (voting) numbers."

Thompson believes the increase is modest, and "is not going to destroy
any businesses. It's not going to drive people out of Nevada."

Even though voters were supporting Question 2 by a 62 percent to 38
percent margin, the measure restricting how and when local and state
governments can forcibly seize private land using eminent domain won't
become law anytime soon.

The measure -- also known as the People's Initiative to Stop the
Taking of Our Land, or PISTOL -- is a proposed constitutional
amendment and, as such, must pass voter muster again in 2008 before it
can take effect.

"The people know we need to have some kind of harness put on
government to make sure there are not these technical ways to use
eminent domain and take people's property," said Don Chairez, a PISTOL
backer. "The people really feel we can't trust the politicians" to fix
the problem.

Nonetheless, Clark County Commissioner Bruce Woodbury, who headed the
PISTOL opposition and also chairs the Regional Transportation
Commission, is urging the 2007 Legislature to enact its own eminent
domain restrictions prior to the 2008 vote, in hopes of nixing the
need for PISTOL.

Both Woodbury and Chairez said they are amenable to discussions on how
to rewrite law to match PISTOL's intent while addressing governmental
concerns that PISTOL would cripple public works projects. That doesn't
mean Chairez is willing to sacrifice PISTOL, though.

"The bottom line is, we need PISTOL as a safety valve," Chairez
said.

In other ballot questions Tuesday, voters were in support of Question
1, which would require the Legislature to fund public education before
other state programs. The measure, which would go into effect in time
for the 2007 Legislature, led with 55 percent of the vote, with 45
percent against.

Question 8, which would end sales taxes on the value of a trade-in
when buying a vehicle at an auto dealership, was winning by a wide
margin, 69 percent to 31 percent. It would also exempt farm equipment
from sales tax.

Question 11, which would lift pay limits on legislators, was opposed
by 70 percent of voters. Only 30 percent supported the idea of paying
legislators for up to 120 days worked, rather than capping pay at the
regular session's 60-day limit.

Voters were tightly split on Question 10, which would allow the
Legislature to call itself into special session. It was being rejected
by 52 percent of voters, with 48 percent behind it. Currently, only
the governor can call a special session.

Question 9, which would shrink the size of the state's Board of
Regents that oversees state colleges and allow the governor to appoint
some of its members, also was closely contested, with 51 percent
against and 49 percent in favor.