EDITORIAL: POT FOR FUN SHOULD NOT BE LEGALIZED

This week the "Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana" filed
paperwork with the secretary of state's office to launch an initiative
campaign. Two years ago a similar campaign was launched by "Nevadans
for Responsible Law Enforcement." Two years from now they'll probably
come up with another deceptive name for what it really is they want to
do -- dupe Nevadans into becoming the first state in the nation to
legalize marijuana.

Voters in Nevada's general election of November 2002 did not fall for
their slick campaign, sponsored by a Washington-based group known as
the Marijuana Policy Project. Question 9, which wanted to amend the
Nevada Constitution to allow people 21 and older to legally possess up
to 3 ounces of marijuana, failed by a margin of 61 percent to 39 percent.

This new campaign claims the current initiative is superior. This time
the initiative seeks to legalize the possession of up to 1 ounce of
marijuana by those 21 or over. In our view, whether it's 1 ounce or 3
ounces has no bearing on legalized marijuana's threat to public
safety. We do not need more impaired drivers. Or impaired anybody. The
new campaign also touts the initiative's strong penalties for people
who abuse marijuana. This disguises the true motive, which is to use
Nevada as a springboard for a national drive to legalize marijuana
use. Besides, setting criminal penalties is a responsibility best left
to the Nevada Legislature.

We support the use of marijuana under a doctor's guidance for relief
of pain or other medical conditions. But in a society where drug
victims can be counted by the millions, we cannot condone the use of
marijuana for recreation.