MEDICAL MARIJUANA INITIATIVE CLEARS ITS FIRST HURDLE

CARSON CITY -- Nevada voters asserted their independence Tuesday and
decisively approved Question 9, which would allow doctors to recommend
marijuana to patients with serious illnesses.

Partial returns showed the medical marijuana question was approved by 59
percent of the voters, compared with 41 percent who opposed its passage.

Question 9 had been opposed by most political and law enforcement leaders,
who warned it could lead to increased illegal drug use and flies in the
face of federal laws that make possession of marijuana a crime.

"This was a question about individual freedom and a question of
compassion," said Dan Hart, leader of Nevadans for Medical Rights. "This is
a state that prides itself on individual freedom."

Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa, who opposes medical marijuana, said
the vote sends the message that pain management alternatives must be
developed for sick people.

"What I saw is the baby boomers are getting old and they are concerned
about pain management," she said.

Unlike the three other states and the District of Columbia that also had
medical marijuana proposals on their Tuesday ballots, Nevada voters must
approve Question 9 again in 2000.

Only then could the Legislature begin setting up a distribution and
regulatory system for marijuana. The proposal calls for creation of a
registry through which law enforcement officers could determine whether a
person could receive marijuana for medical reasons.

Hart said the concerns expressed by opponents are misplaced. He said the
Legislature will pass laws to ensure the drug falls only into the hands of
people with serious illnesses.

"There will be enough safety built into the law," Hart said. "It is not
going to foster recreational drug use."

With final approval, marijuana could be recommended to people who suffer
from AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and other illnesses.

More than 73,000 Nevadans last spring petitioned to put the medical
marijuana proposition before voters.

As expected, partial returns showed voters overwhelmingly approving
Question 5, which would require the Legislature starting next year to
adjourn within 120 days. The question was favored by 70 percent and opposed
by 30 percent.

Legislatures now meet every other year for an indefinite length. In the
last decade, no Legislature has adjourned in fewer than 165 days.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, and other supporters contended
passage of the proposal would save taxpayers $3 million to $4 million. But
opponents, such as Sen. Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, maintained approval would
increase the power of the Legislature's nonelected staff of more than 200
full-time workers. She also expressed concern that increases in the
legislative staff would wipe out any savings.

Here are partial results of other ballot questions:

- --Question 1: 61 percent in favor, 39 percent opposed. Passage would
resolve conflicts when two laws or constitutional amendments approved by
voters deal with the same matter. Under its dictates, the proposal that
receives the most votes would prevail.

- --Question 2: 58 percent in favor, 42 percent opposed. Passage would allow
the Legislature to set rules governing the Commission on Judicial
Discipline. The Supreme Court now sets the rules and came under heavy fire
several years ago when it intervened in the disciplinary case affecting
former District Judge Jerry Carr Whitehead of Washoe County.

- --Question 3: 54 percent in favor, 46 percent opposed. Passage would let
counties designate locations other than the county seat to hold sessions of
district court. Now district courts only meet in county seats, and in some
counties, such as Nye, that is more than 100 miles from other cities.

- --Question 4: 53 percent in favor, 47 percent opposed. Passage would let
the Legislature designate the last Friday in October as a legal holiday to
celebrate Nevada's admission day. When the holiday falls in the middle of
the week, few working people can attend a Nevada Day parade and other
anniversary festivities in Carson City.

- --Question 6: 43 percent in favor, 57 percent opposed. Passage would allow
the Legislature to reduce taxes on property whose owners take steps to
reduce the use of water. Sen. Mark James, R-Las Vegas, proposed the
question as an incentive to promote the conservation of water.

- --Question 7: 43 percent in favor, 57 percent opposed. Passage would
require state and local governments to charge sales taxes on items they
sell to the public. Taxes would be collected on items purchased by people
in museums, state parks, beaches and stores operated by governments.

- --Question 8: 39 percent in favor, 61 percent opposed. Passage would remove
the lieutenant governor as president of the state Senate, a largely
parliamentarian role, and replace that person with a senator elected by the
Senate.

- --Question 17: 57 percent in favor, 43 percent opposed. Passage would
require state legislators and Nevada's congressional delegation to support
a constitutional amendment to impose term limits for members of the U.S.
Senate and House of Representatives. Those who do not will have a statement
- -- "Disregarded voter instruction on term limits" -- placed by their names
on the next election ballot.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski