LAW ENFORCEMENT CHEERS FAILURE OF POT PETITION

CARSON CITY -- The apparent failure of the initiative petition on medical
marijuana to qualify for the election ballot is being hailed by law
enforcement officials as a victory.

But supporters of the pot petition suggest the issue isn't dead.

When informed the initiative had fallen short last week, District Attorney
Dick Gammick of Reno said, "as long as marijuana has been around, I have
yet to see an FDA (Federal Drug Administration) report that it is a
beneficial drug."

But Dan Hart, a spokesman for the group supporting the petition, said,
"We're taking a look at our options."

The group can appeal to Secretary of State Dean Heller or go to court in an
effort to put the question on the November election ballot.

Nye County Clerk Arte Robb reported Friday she completed her re-examination
of 1,228 signatures on the petition and found there were 890 registered
voters, just short of the 926 valid signatures needed in that county.

In Nye County, two women who had been circulating the petition and had 90
signatures, arrived several minutes past the deadline for submitting the
names on June 16. Those petitions were rejected by Robb.

Nye County was one of two counties asked by Heller to recheck the petitions
and the number of registered voters who signed them. Lyon County is still
re-examining the petition signatures and doesn't have to report back until
next week.

Petition backers gathered 74,466 signatures in 13 of the state's 17
counties. The law requires 46,764 valid names to be gathered statewide --
10 percent of which must be registered voters in 13 of the 17 counties. The
petition was presented only in the minimum 13 counties.

Its failure in Nye County means the petition falls short. Deputy Secretary
of State Don Reis said, however, an official announcement will not be made
until all the results are in. At that time, he said the circulators of the
petition, if it fails, will have five days to appeal to the secretary of
state's office the findings of the county clerks.

Law enforcement and medical groups have generally opposed the petition
which would permit people, upon the advice of a physician, to use marijuana
for curing or relieving pain in a number of illnesses such as cancer,
glaucoma and AIDS. Minors would have to receive permission from their
parents and doctors.

Gammick said if the FDA certified marijuana as a legal drug than he would
go along with it. "But this is not the way to go about it," he said
referring to the ballot box.

"California did it and we have to live with that mess over there. If it
helped with glaucoma and cancer, then I would support it. But it's nothing
but a street contraband drug and it has no business being legal."

If the petition qualified for the ballot, it would have to pass the voters
in November and then in 2000 before it would become a part of the Nevada
Constitution.