WHITE HOUSE: DRUG CZAR NOT BOUND BY NEVADA LAW

CARSON CITY -- A White House lawyer has notified Nevada Secretary of State
Dean Heller's office that Drug Czar John Walters does not have to follow a
Nevada political campaign law.

In a Monday letter, General Counsel Edward Jurith said Walters is "immune"
from a state law requiring people who advocate positions on Nevada ballot
questions to identify their contributors and report expenditures.

During the fall campaign, Walters visited Nevada three times to speak out
against passage of Question 9, the failed ballot question that would have
allowed adults to possess up to three ounces of marijuana.

After the election, the Marijuana Policy Project of Washington, D.C.,
complained to Heller that Walters had not filed reports on his
contributions and expenditures. Susan Bilyeu, deputy secretary of state,
then requested that Walters explain why he should not follow the law.

Jurith said Walters is immune from Nevada election laws "as a federal
official acting within the scope of duties, including speaking out about
the dangers of illegal drugs." Walters was empowered by Congress and the
president to act as an anti-drug spokesman, he added.

Consequently, Jurith said Walters would not respond to the Marijuana Policy
Project complaint. The project, through its Nevadans for Responsible Law
Enforcement subsidiary, ran the campaign to legalize marijuana. The group
reported $1.8 million in contributions and detailed its expenditures in
reports to Heller's office.

"This letter is not a serious response," said Bruce Mirken, director of
communications for the Marijuana Policy Project. "It is insulting. They
don't cite any statute or special authority that makes them immune from the
law. They just say they don't have to.

"He has gone from ignoring the law to blatantly defying it," Mirken said.

Steve George, a spokesman for Heller's office, said the Walters letter will
be reviewed and the agency may ask the attorney general's office whether
additional action should be taken.