MARIJUANA INITIATIVE GAINS SUPPORT

A Poll Finds Nevadans Are Favoring A Proposal To Allow The Use Of Pot As A
Medical Tool For Some.

Despite the opposition of law enforcement and state political leaders,
a new poll shows an increasing number of Nevadans favor passage of the
ballot question to allow the use of marijuana for medical reasons.

The statewide survey commissioned by the Review-Journal and KTNV-TV,
Channel 13, found 52 percent of likely voters favored passage of
Question 9 on Tuesday's election ballot. Forty percent opposed
passage, and 8 percent were undecided.

The results represented a strong gain for medical marijuana supporters
following a similar poll in late September. At that time, 47 percent
of the respondents backed the medical marijuana question, while 44
percent were unopposed.

"I believe Nevada voters will vote to allow physicians this tool to
deal with catastrophic illnesses," said Dan Hart, state leader of
Nevadans for Medical Rights. "When we have asked opponents in debates
specifically if they had a loved one in pain and marijuana was the
only medication that would work to relieve that pain, they all said
yes they would use it."

Dr. Donald Vereen Jr., deputy director of the Office of National Drug
Control Policy, said in a Las Vegas appearance that the initiative
"hijacks" legitimate science, which has isolated marijuana's main
compound, THC, and put it in pill form for safe use.

"What other medicines do you smoke? What other medicines do you vote
for?" he asked.

Del Ali, pollster for Mason-Dixon Political/Media Research Inc., which
conducted the poll, said the results indicated the question likely
would pass.

"The bottom line is over 50 percent support it," Ali said. "The
precedent was set when California passed it in 1996."

Similar medical marijuana initiatives are on the Tuesday ballot in
four other states and the District of Columbia.

Ali said his firm surveyed voters in Washington state and found they
favor passage of the medical marijuana initiative 47 percent to 38
percent.

In the Nevada survey, 817 registered voters were surveyed by telephone
Sunday through Tuesday. The results had a 3.5 percentage point margin
of error.

Gov. Bob Miller, Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa and Nevada
Highway Patrol Chief Michael Hood were disappointed by the survey results.

At an afternoon news conference, Sheriff Jerry Keller called the
initiative an "absolute scam."

"Marijuana is still a drug; it is still a federal offense no matter
what they do in Nevada," Keller said. He said passage of Question 9
would increase trafficking and that "no other drug prescribed by a
doctor is prescribed by a vote of the public."

Were Question 9 to pass, marijuana's unregulated yet still criminal
status "would be too much of a paradox for law enforcement and
prosecutors," he said.

John Drew, chief of the state Division of Investigations, said drug
defendants could end up clogging the courts with spurious medical defenses.

Miller said passage would send "the wrong message that it is OK to use
marijuana sometimes."

He said, "I am not convinced it is needed as a pain relieving
medicine. There are other drugs available."

Passage would make stopping the use of marijuana in nonmedical
instances more difficult, he said.

"There would still be tremendous legal hurdles if it passes," Del Papa
added. "Use of marijuana is against federal law."

Hood feared passage would lead to increased drug use. He said he did
not think it would be possible to restrict the use of marijuana just
to sick people.

Unlike in the other states, voters in Nevada have to pass Question 9
on Tuesday and again in 2000 before doctors would be allowed to
recommend marijuana to their sick patients.

The measure would allow doctors to recommend marijuana for patients
with AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, epilepsy, nausea, multiple sclerosis and
other medical problems.

In addition, the ballot question calls on the Legislature in 2001 to
develop laws for the distribution and control of medical marijuana.
The measure also would require the establishment of a registry for law
enforcement officers to find the names of people who may use medical
marijuana.

Drew said medicinal marijuana backers purposely used vague language in
Question 9 to open the door to recreational use. He said the question
allows for treatment on "the advice of a physician," not by written
prescription.

He also said use by minors would be permitted.

Registering with the state or law enforcement, he said, violates
doctor-patient privilege.

The fact that the ballot question would have to pass twice, Drew said,
"is going to allow a lot of us to do a better job to explain what
needs to be done" in trying to defeat the measure.

Hart said the Legislature "will enact strong enough safeguards to deal
with problems."

"I think the worries of the law enforcement community are misplaced,"
he said.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry