MARIJUANA GROUP: NO MEANS NO

In 2002 Nevada was seen by the Marijuana Policy Project Foundation as an
ideal state in which to push its agenda.

Principally, this Washington-based nonprofit group wanted Nevada voters to
approve an initiative petition that would have legalized, for adults, the
possession of 3 ounces of marijuana.

The group envisioned state-sanctioned pot shops, where adults could buy up
to 3 ounces of this drug. Nevada was considered ideal because its
population is small compared to most other states.

Our few population centers made campaigning easy. The organizers also
figured that because voters enjoy legalized gambling throughout the state
and legalized prostitution in some counties, they would be open to
legalized marijuana use. They figured wrong.

Voters rejected the petition 60.7 percent to 39.3 percent.

We opposed the foundation's premise that marijuana should be legalized. The
foundation's out-of-state political strategists, however, were welcome to
campaign here, get their question on the ballot and hear from the voters.

But now that they have their answer, we're irked that they won't accept it.
They're determined to have Nevada vote their way so they can use the
victory to stimulate campaigns in other states.

The foundation is running TV ads in Reno that promote the notion that teen
drug use would decline if marijuana were legalized.

It cites a 2001 finding by the federal Office of National Drug Control
Policy that 67.1 percent of Nevada's 12th graders at one time or another
tried marijuana. It compares that with a 2001 survey by the government of
Netherlands -- where adults can legally buy marijuana -- showing that only
28 percent of its teens in the same age group had tried marijuana.

This unscientific comparison proves nothing.

The surveys used different methodologies -- in the Netherlands, for
example, the teens received money for responding. Even if compatible
surveys, including more than just the Netherlands, had been compared and
the same results achieved, would that justify legalizing marijuana?

We do not need more drivers who are under the influence and more young
adults who look to drugs for recreation.

We support the limited and supervised use of marijuana for medical purposes
and we support lighter penalties for first-time possession of small amounts
of marijuana.

But we don't support the tactics of this marijuana foundation, which
continues to use Nevada as a testing ground even after it received a
resounding no for an answer.