BUSH OFFICIALS, PROPONENT SQUARE OFF AGAINST QUESTION 7 IN DAYTON

The Nevada ballot initiative to legalize possession of up to an ounce
of marijuana is being orchestrated by interests in Washington D.C.,
according to a Bush Administration official.

But a backer of Question 7 pointed to the clear Capitol connections
of Scott Burns, who's deputy director of the White House Office of
National Drug Control Policy for State and Local Affairs.

"The reason this is on the ballot is because 86,000 Nevadans signed
petitions to put it on the ballot," Patrick Killen of Las Vegas said.

Burns claimed that the power behind the initiative was using Nevada
as a guinea pig to see if it can legalize all drugs.

He spoke at a panel discussion Monday at the Dayton Community Center
on Question 7 sponsored by Healthy Communities Coalition of Lyon and
Storey Counties, which opposes the measure.

Killen and about 10 others protested outside the center.

Burns said the initiative is funded 98 percent from Washington, D.C.
He named John Sperling, founder of the University of Phoenix; Peter
Lewis of Progressive Insurance Co., and billionaire investor George
Soros as the money men behind the ballot measure.

Killen said Washington needs to fix its own problems before telling
Nevadans how to vote on a local issue.

"We support Question 7 because we believe that Nevada marijuana laws
have failed and it's time for a sensible alternative.," he said.
"Question 7 would tax and regulate marijuana in Nevada, taking it
away from violent gangs and drug dealers."

But Burns and fellow panel members Las Vegas police officer Todd
Raybuck and John Shields, head of the New Frontier Treatment Center
in Fallon, said passage would make drug use more acceptable and
encourage use among children.

"When I was in high school and college, it was a 'rite of passage'
drug," Burns said. "Now it's a rite of passage drug for 10- to 12-year-olds."

Burns said that the drug use among youth is decreasing, and passage
of Question 7 would make it seem like a normal thing to do.

Raybuck, a 14-year veteran of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police
Department said today's marijuana is 50 percent to 70 percent more
potent than it was in the 1960s and '70s and has a chilling effect on youth.

"The more powerful pot rewires the adolescent brain similar to heroin
or cocaine," he said.

Raybuck told a story of two brothers. One brother, who never used
drugs, stayed in school, had a career, family and a nice home. The
other brother started smoking marijuana and kept smoking for 30
years. He went on to use methamphetamine and cocaine.

"He never held a job more than six months," Raybuck said. "He has two
sons he never sees."

Raybuck said the brother is now doing a long stretch in prison for
crimes he committed while on drugs.

"I can tell you about this brother, because he's my brother," Raybuck said.

Both Burns and Raybuck stated that even if Question 7 passes, federal
law, which supersedes state law, still outlaws possession and use of marijuana.

But several of some two dozen people who attended the panel
discussion defended the initiative, though they did not give their names.

One woman stated that she lived in constant pain and would rather use
marijuana than Vicodin or other prescribed drugs that leave her "like
a zombie."

Another man criticized the amount of financial resources used in
fighting drugs.

"I don't want kids smoking dope, drinking beer, or smoking
cigarettes, but the war on drugs has been a failure," he said.