NEVADA OFFICIAL WON'T REVIEW OPINION ON PETITIONS

CARSON CITY, Nev. - The state attorney general's office has no plans to
change its legal opinion that disqualified three initiative petitions to
limit smoking in public places and to allow one ounce of marijuana for adults.

Secretary of State Dean Heller asked for another look at the opinion, but
Tom Sargent, spokesman for Attorney General Brian Sandoval, said a change
would "defy the precedent" set in a similar case by the state Nevada
Supreme Court in 1994.

Heller asked for the review after getting an appeal from Robert Crowell,
attorney for the Nevada Clean Air initiative petition that seeks to limit
smoking in public buildings.

Backers of the clean air petition submitted 64,871 valid signatures Nov. 9
after the 2004 election and they maintain they needed only 51,337 based on
10 percent of the voter turnout in the 2002 election. But Heller, acting on
the advice of the attorney general's office, said the petition needed
83,156 signatures of voters based on 10 percent of the turnout in this
November's election.

Advocates of the marijuana proposal had 69,261 valid signatures and another
initiative supported by the casinos to impose smoking limits gathered
74,348 valid signatures.

The backers of the marijuana petition already have said they intend to file
suit to challenge Heller's decision.

Crowell said that two years ago Heller made a different decision involving
an initiative petition to change the medical malpractice laws. That
petition was submitted after the 2002 November election but Heller
determined it qualified based on 10 percent of the 2000 election.

But Heller said there were enough signatures to qualify the malpractice
petition based on 10 percent of the voter turnout in both the 2000 and 2002
elections.

Crowell said the health coalition relied on the advice of the secretary of
state in its initiative petition guide that only 51,337 signatures were
needed and then agreed to the request by county officials not to file the
petition before the election because the officials had too much work facing
them.