VOTERS UNLIKELY TO PASS POT PLAN

Marijuana Initiative Gains Support Since Last on Ballot in 2002

CARSON CITY -- Nevadans narrowly would reject a ballot question
seeking to legalize possession of an ounce or less of marijuana for
adults 21 and older, a poll commissioned by the Review-Journal shows.

Forty-three percent of the respondents said they would support the
initiative to change the constitution and decriminalize 1 ounce or
less of marijuana for adults who use it privately.

But 48 percent said they oppose the idea and 9 percent are undecided.
In Clark County, 47 percent favor such legalization, compared with 43
percent in opposition.

The results are in sharp contrast with the November 2002 election when
a ballot question to allow adults to possess 3 ounces or less of
marijuana lost in a landslide. Only 39 percent of Nevadans voted for
the ballot question; 61 percent opposed it.

The Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C., which backed the
failed ballot question, is sponsoring the current initiative. No state
ever has approved a ballot question to legalize marijuana.

Based on the change since the last election, Jennifer Knight,
spokeswoman for the Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana,
expressed confidence the initiative will receive voter approval in
November.

"The poll shows tremendous progress from the last election," Knight
said. "What was a 21 percentage point deficit has shrunk to 5
percentage points. We clearly are moving in the right direction."

But Brad Coker, managing director of Mason-Dixon Polling and Research
Inc., predicted the initiative will go down to defeat if law
enforcement officials embark on a campaign to persuade voters to
reject the idea.

"A lot depends on what law enforcement does," he said. "The last time
when law enforcement came out in opposition, it tanked. This one is a
little different, less controversial. People are sympathetic to
medical marijuana, but if the marijuana is used as a recreational drug
to intoxicate there is no groundswell of support."

The survey of 625 Nevada voters, conducted between March 15 and March
17, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Two years ago a poll by Coker's Washington, D.C.-based organization
found voters were nearly evenly split concerning the legalization of 3
ounces or less of marijuana. Support dropped after police and district
attorneys began speaking out in opposition.

Prosecutors already are criticizing the new initiative.

"I can't imagine how the community will be better off having more
people smoking dope," Clark County District Attorney David Roger said.
"There are so many provisions of this initiative that seem ridiculous.
They suggest by having the Legislature marketing it and making it more
available to the public that there would be fewer juveniles ingesting
the drug."

Roger also questioned the accuracy of pro-marijuana commercials that
claim 72 percent of Nevada teens have used marijuana, compared with 28
percent of Dutch teens. In the Netherlands, marijuana is available in
coffee houses.

Through his own research, Roger found the use of marijuana by Dutch
youth has tripled since the drug became more readily available.

Washoe County District Attorney Richard Gammick said citizens should
realize the marijuana today is 20 times as potent as varieties used 30
years ago.

"Marijuana is a gateway drug," he said. "It is a dangerous drug. It is
an addictive drug. No matter what they say, the bottom line is they
want to legalize drugs."

Knight said she did not vote for the 3 ounce question in 2002 because
it went too far, and the new initiative will lead to regulation and
control of marijuana. With marijuana furnished by the state, drug
dealers would be forced out of business and teenagers could not
acquire it, she added.

Supporters learned from the 2002 defeat, she added. The new initiative
would impose a one-to 10-year prison sentence on someone who sells
marijuana to minors and a five-year to life sentence on anyone
convicted of vehicular manslaughter while under the influence of marijuana.

The Legislature would set up regulations on the manufacture, sale and
distribution of marijuana. A tax would be imposed and money would be
used to finance alcohol and drug abuse programs.

To qualify for a spot on the November ballot, Knight's organization
must collect 51,235 valid signatures on petitions by June 15. To
change the constitution, voters would have to support the plan this
November and again in 2006.

Under current Nevada law, the possession of an ounce or less of
marijuana is a misdemeanor punishable by a $600 fine.

Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, author of the state's
marijuana law, backs the new initiative because it might keep it out
of the hands of youths.

"We have young people who can access marijuana easier than tobacco or
beer," Giunchigliani said.