GROUP LOSES IN EFFORT TO GET NEVADA EXPENSE REPORT FROM DRUG CZAR

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - The state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday
against efforts by the Marijuana Policy Project to have federal drug
czar John Walters investigated for not filing expense reports when
campaigning in Nevada against a 2002 marijuana legalization plan.

The high court issued a 1-paragraph order saying its intervention
isn't warranted.

The Marijuana Policy Project sought an order requiring Secretary of
State Dean Heller to investigate Walters, adding that he could be
subject to a fine up to $5,000 if he violated campaign laws.

But Heller's office maintained that Walters didn't have to submit a
report when he campaigned in Nevada, and a federal lawyer for Walters
argued the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control
Policy was exempt from Nevada law.

The state attorney general's office issued an opinion stating that
Walters didn't have to file campaign expense and contribution reports
because he was acting within the scope of his federal duties when he
opposed the 2002 plan aimed at legalizing possession of up to 3 ounces
of marijuana.

The policy project has since formed a new group called the Committee
to Regulate and Control Marijuana, which is pushing an initiative
petition to legalize possession of up to 1 ounce of marijuana by
adults in Nevada.

The latest plan would increase penalties for providing marijuana to
minors or for causing a fatal accident while driving under the
influence of the substance. Sale of marijuana would be taxed, and
revenue would be earmarked for drug and alcohol treatment and
education programs.

The new proposal appeared to have failed to get enough signatures to
qualify for the November ballot, but a federal judge on Friday found
that two Nevada petition requirements that left the measure short of
signatures were unconstitutional.

However, U.S District Judge James Mahan refused to order Nevada
Secretary of State Dean Heller to put the marijuana measure on the
Nov. 2 ballot.

Instead, Mahan said verification of the 66,000 names submitted on
petitions statewide would determine if supporters reached the required
51,337 valid signatures. Election officials have until Aug. 31 to
verify signatures.

Nevada voters have approved the use of marijuana for medical reasons,
but in 2002 overwhelmingly rejected the measure to legalize up to 3
ounces of marijuana.

Because the new, 1-ounce measure would amend the Nevada Constitution,
voters would have to approve it in November and again in 2006 before
it could take effect.