SMOKING BALLOTS

Students Comment on Question 7 One Week Before Election
Day

The subject of marijuana has become an issue for public debate in
recent years, though its use is not necessarily a recent occurrence.

In 2004, 771,605 people were arrested in marijuana-related situations,
and many feel that these cases waste law enforcement agents' time that
could be spent seeking out more "serious" criminals.

Because of this, politically minded individuals have placed
initiatives on ballots to alleviate the situation either by legalizing
or regulating it with the government's oversight.

Question 7 attempts to address the problem by regulating the sale of
marijuana to persons 21 years of age or older. If passed, marijuana
retailers and wholesalers will be required to acquire a license from
the Nevada Department of Taxation, and half of the tax revenue earned
will be allocated to fund programs that fight alcoholism, tobacco and
drug use, while the other half will go into a general fund.

People 21 years of age or older will be legally allowed to possess up
to 1 ounce of the substance, and the penalties for operating vehicles
while under the influence of marijuana, as well as penalties for the
distribution of the drug to a minor, will be increased.

Those in support of the ballot initiative say very bluntly, "Our
marijuana laws do not work." The Nevada 2006 ballot guide cites 10,000
marijuana-related arrests in the past three years, and it says that
despite state laws, the drug still seems to proliferate.

Supporters advocate a system of regulation and taxation that they see
as a "sensible alternative" to the "free-for-all" that the marijuana
market is now.

Matthew Hagen, executive director of the UNLV Young Democrats,
reinforces this argument saying, "We (Nevadans) spend billions of
dollars fighting marijuana use, and it's not worth the money."

He supports Question 7, even though he has stated that he is not a
smoker himself. He admits that it is probably "a loss issue between
Democrats" as there are different sides on the issue within the party.

President of the UNLV College Republicans, Ciara Turns, said of
Question 7, "on the surface, it seems harmless." She agreed that,
"obviously the Republican party is encouraging people to vote no,"
somewhat exemplifying the party penetrating issues involved in Question 7.

The opposition to Question 7 says in the ballot guide, "Nevada police
made 460,000 arrests in the last three years; only 2 percent of those
were for marijuana," in an effort to counter the argument that state
law enforcement programs are wasted.

Their main argument revolves around use by minors, asserting that,
"many experts believe legalizing marijuana for adults will likely
result in children smoking marijuana as a sign of growing up believing
it as a 'badge of adulthood,' much like alcohol and tobacco are
today." They reinforce this by providing statistics about the 11
million minors who drink alcohol and the 50 percent of students who
have used tobacco products. They also have said that, "marijuana was
involved in more than 215,000 emergency department visits nationwide,"
and call attention to its health effects, stating, "marijuana contains
50 to 70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than tobacco smoke"
and "smoking three to four joints per day causes as much harm to the
respiratory system as smoking a full pack of cigarettes a day." Their
argument also touches on marijuana users' statistical performance in
the workplace, in that their absenteeism and probability for
on-the-job accidents is higher than the normal worker.

Those in support claim that marijuana is much safer than already
legalized alcohol. The ballot guide reads, "It appears no fatal
overdoses from marijuana have ever been recorded, yet alcohol
overdoses kill nearly 20,000 Americans annually."

Question 7's opposition says, "claims that we should eliminate
marijuana because people use the drug is like saying we should remove
laws for theft because people steal." This contrasts Matthew Hagen,
who said, "Even Prohibition didn't work."

Many students have admitted that the campaign in support of Question 7
has been run well, and there is a good possibility of passage. Even
with that, Ariel Xaubet, a sophomore economics major, said, "If it
doesn't pass, something like it will be on the next ballot until it
finally passes."