EFFORT TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA RENEWED

Advocates are kicking off a campaign today to again try to legalize
marijuana in Nevada.

The Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana announced it would
file an initiative with the secretary of state's office today and
start gathering signatures.

The group's new initiative would allow people 21 and older to legally
possess up to 1 ounce of marijuana for recreational use. It would make
Nevada the first state to do so.

The petition needs the signatures of 51,244 registered voters by June
15 to qualify for the November ballot. The committee needs to gather
signatures from 10 percent of the voters in 13 of the state's 17
counties to qualify.

Proponents are hopeful that they will be able to get the initiative on
the ballot. The last group to sponsor the effort, Nevadans for
Responsible Law Enforcement, gathered 110,000 signatures in 2002 to
land the initiative on the ballot.

The initiative would then go to the voters and needs to pass in two
general elections before it would be amended to the Nevada
Constitution.

A similar initiative, which would have allowed possession of up to 3
ounces, was rejected soundly by Nevada voters in 2002.

"This is a totally different initiative," committee spokeswoman
Jennifer Knight said. "It has a totally different team. We have
addressed concerns of voters that were voiced in the 2002 campaign."

The committee, which is supported by the Marijuana Policy Project, has
changed the amount of marijuana that would be legal and is suggesting
an increase in the penalty for driving under the influence.

Still, some in the law enforcement community were quick to react,
saying they're opposed to any version of a measure that would legalize
marijuana.

"The last thing we need to be doing as a society, especially in
Nevada, is to tell our youth that it's OK to use drugs," said Capt.
Stavros Anthony, head of Metro Police's vice narcotics bureau.

"There is no valid reason for using marijuana except to get high,"
Anthony said. "And there have been studies that have shown marijuana
can potentially be a gateway drug to other narcotics."

Knight and other advocates argue that the measure actually would cut
drug use among teens by regulating the drug and argue that would cut
the number of black-market drug dealers.

She pointed to a 2001 study cited by the White House Office of
National Drug Control that found that more than 67 percent of Nevada's
high school seniors say they have tried marijuana at least once in
their lifetimes.

A separate study in the Netherlands, where some marijuana use is
legal, found that 28 percent of Dutch teens had tried marijuana.

The Marijuana Policy Project has been touting those numbers in an ad
campaign launched in November. The ads still play frequently in the
Las Vegas market.

The group donated the funds toward the new Nevada initiative partly
because Nevadans have responded positively to the ads, said Bruce
Mirken, director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project.

"We thought it was worth giving it a try and we absolutely believe
that this is a better proposal," Mirken said.

"The basic outline of what we're trying to do is right not just for
Nevada but for America. It simply makes sense to regulate marijuana
and bring it off the streets so society has some control," he said.
"Our current laws guarantee we have no control."

Under the initiative only licensed tobacco shops would be allowed to
sell the drug to adults, Knight said.

The initiative would increase penalties for people who sell marijuana
to minors. First-time offenders could receive up to 10 years in prison
and second-time offenders could be sentenced to life.

"Extremely evil people are getting extremely rich," Knight said of
illegal drug dealers. "This is just another element that needs to be
stopped."

Knight said she voted against the last initiative, partly because she
felt it didn't send a message to marijuana users that they couldn't
use the drug and drive.

The new initiative would beef up the penalties for driving under the
influence. And people convicted of vehicular homicide while driving
under the influence could face up to life in prison, compared with the
maximum 20 years in jail now imposed.

"Anyone who even thinks about getting behind the wheel should think
twice if they know they're going to face a life sentence," Knight said.

No matter what punishments the initiative would levy, it still would
send the wrong message to children that marijuana use is legitimate,
Anthony said. District Attorney David Roger also said he is opposed to
the legalization movement.

"We participated in the effort to defeat the measure last time and we
will continue with our efforts to stop the further legalization of
marijuana," Roger said.

The initiative on the 2002 ballot garnered only 39 percent of the
vote.

The committee is kicking off its campaign using a $150,000
contribution from the Marijuana Policy Project, the nation's largest
organization that seeks to reform marijuana laws. The group has 14,000
members, including 300 in Nevada.

Some people involved in the last drive will continue their support.
Andy Anderson, a retired 29-year police officer and former president
of the Nevada Conference of Police and Sheriffs, will be the campaign
manager. Billy Rogers, who led the last campaign on behalf of the
Marijuana Policy Project, will serve as a consultant.

Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, who spoke in favor of
the last initiative, said she's glad it will be introduced with
tougher restrictions on how much marijuana a person can legally have.

"I'd rather get to the people who are dealing it, and if government
has restrictions and regulations in this area, then you will actually
be putting more of the dope dealers out of business and take it out of
the hands of kids," Giunchigliani said.

With regulation, she said, "we have a much better chance of
overturning this war on drugs and making it something that is
meaningful rather than a war on rhetoric."