PAIR OF PETITIONS ARE FILED

Measures Seek To Restrict Smoking, Legalize Marijuana

CARSON CITY -- An initiative petition to ban smoking in most public
places was filed in eight counties with 77,440 signatures Tuesday and
could end up in front of the 2005 Legislature. On the same day, a
petition pushing for the legalization and regulation of marijuana was
filed in five counties across Nevada.

The smoking petition -- supported by the American Cancer Society, the
American Heart Association and the American Lung Association -- is a
rival to a less-restrictive smoking initiative sought by casinos and
bars.

Kendall Stagg, policy director of the Nevada Tobacco Prevention
Coalition, said, "The public is squarely behind this initiative. We
are confident the measure will qualify," referring to the one
supported by the health groups.

Election officials in Washoe, Clark, Elko, Douglas, Storey, Churchill
and Lyon counties and Carson City will start counting the signatures
to make sure there are at least the required 51,337 signatures.

If there are, county officials will examine the signatures to make
sure they are registered voters.

Stagg, employed by the American Cancer Society, said those who
gathered the signatures asked the signers if they were registered
voters. And he said they verified the signatures with the voter files.

The rival group, called the Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act, submitted
87,613 signatures in 17 counties a week ago. Local election officials
are now counting those signatures to verify the signatures.

If both petitions qualify, they will be transferred to the 2005
Legislature that must consider them within 40 days. If the petitions
are not passed, they will then appear on the 2006 election ballot and
the one with the most votes will become law.

Lee Haney, a Rogich Communications Group official and spokeswoman for
the Clean Indoor Air group, said its petition is supported by casinos,
liquor distributors, slot-route operators, convenience stores, gas
stations and the Nevada Tavern Owners Association.

Both petitions would allow smoking in casinos. The health group,
however, wants to permit it only in the areas where minors are
prohibited. Haney said that would mean smoking would be prohibited in
hotel rooms.

Smoking would be allowed in taverns. Stagg's group wants to permit
smoking in bars only where there is incidental food service such as
peanuts, popcorn, chips, pretzel and other items that are not subject
to health licensing.

The two groups agree that smoking should be prohibited in movie
theaters, video arcades and government buildings. Both would permit
smoking in Strip clubs or brothels and retail tobacco stores.

The marijuana petition, which was filed in the counties of Carson,
Clark, Douglas, Lyon and Washoe counties, collected 84,665 signatures,
said Larry Sandell, the campaign manager for the Committee to Regulate
and Control Marijuana, which is spearheading the effort to legalize
marijuana.

Sandell said that an estimated 57,835 signatures on the petition are
likely valid -- well above the 51,337 needed for the petition to reach
the Legislature. Like the smoking petition, the Legislature has 40
days to decide on it. If the lawmakers do not pass the petition, it
will go to the 2006 ballot and could become a law.

Sandell said that the support for the petition "is not great" in the
Legislature and he doesn't expect it to pass.

But he is optimistic that debating the bill in the legislature will
also spurn discussion in the public, and an articulate debate can be
held on the issue of legalization of marijuana.

The petition asks that possession of an ounce or less of marijuana is
not a crime, and that owning certain marijuana-related paraphernalia
is not a crime.

The petition also advocates for the regulation of marijuana, meaning
that state-regulated, licensed businesses could sell marijuana.

The petition states that an individual would need to be 21 years old
or older to purchase or use marijuana.

"Marijuana prohibition has absolutely failed," Sandell said. "If an
adult or child wants to buy it, they can get it. We just want to
regulate it."

Larry Lomax, Clark County Registrar, said on Tuesday that if the
petition has the required number of signatures, it will get sent to
the secretary of state's office. Once certified, the Clark County
Election Department can begin the process of validating the signatures.

He said it will probably take more than 20 days for the counting and
validation of signatures to be complete.