MARIJUANA GROUP ASKS COURT TO ACT

Activists lobbying for support of a ballot question legalizing small
amounts of marijuana contend government bodies violated state ethics
laws by using taxpayer money to oppose the initiative.

The Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana filed an emergency
motion Thursday in District Court that asked it to prevent public
officials from using their position to sway voters on the issue.

The lawsuit names the Clark County Commission, Washoe County District
Attorney Dick Gammick, Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Stan Olsen
and the University Board of Regents.

"My tax dollars and your tax dollars should not be used to tell people
how to vote," Neil Levine, the committee's campaign manager, said at a
news conference on the steps of the Regional Justice Center.

Question 7, which will appear on November's general election ballot,
would allow adults 21 and older to possess legally up to one ounce of
marijuana.

In September, the Clark County Commission voted unanimously to sign a
resolution opposing the ballot question. A resolution states the
board's position on an issue.

The lawsuit contends public money was used to "pay the Commissioners
for their time, organize the public meeting, and make available a
public facility.

"While on the public dime, the Clark County Commissioners debated the
merits of Question 7 and then voted to authorize the Chairman to sign
the Resolution, providing a public statement of opposition."

County officials said representatives of the committee are blowing
smoke.

Deputy District Attorney Mary-Anne Miller said the county did not use
taxpayers' money in any "substantive fashion" when commissioners
discussed the ballot question.

"The board already had a meeting scheduled at that time, and any time
spent on expressing their views was nominal," Miller said.

Levine said the Board of Regents considered adopting a resolution, but
the motion failed.

Gammick held a news conference to denounce the ballot question, and
Olsen signed financial documents on behalf of the Committee to Keep
Nevada Respectable, a group that opposes the marijuana initiative.

"That's clearly using public resources to advocate against Question
7," Levine said of Olsen's involvement in the committee.

The public officials' actions caused "immeasurable and immediate harm"
to the marijuana committee's campaign because early voting starts
Saturday, Levine said.

"We are forced to take this action," he said. "It's a sad commentary
when we have to sue the people charged with setting the laws to get
them to obey those very laws."

The state statute cited in the lawsuit says public officers or workers
are "prohibited from requesting or otherwise causing governmental
entity to incur expense or make expenditure to support or oppose
ballot question or candidate in certain circumstances."

On Wednesday, the Las Vegas City Council dropped from its agenda a
resolution opposing the marijuana ballot question.

City attorneys raised concerns about state laws prohibiting the use of
public resources on political issues.