PONDERING THE BALLOT QUESTIONS

I could not believe my eyes. The national drug czar, John Walters was again
in Las Vegas appearing on almost every local early morning television
station to tell all us wild Nevadans not to support Question 9 on election
day in November. The Office of National Drug Control Policy has been
fighting and losing the drug war for my entire adult life. I am tired of
hearing from it.

While the government has wasted billions of dollars, children's drug usage
has increased. It's time for a fresh strategy and some new leaders. Thank
goodness I live in an independent thinking state that has decided enough is
enough.

Walters has said that half of the nation's nearly 16 million illicit drug
users get high only on marijuana. It is insulting to know that Walters
knows this but his agency has done nothing to get treatment for marijuana
addicts. Try to find a marijuana treatment center or program. Walters'
agency recently spent $10 million on an ad campaign instead of treatment.
Maybe they know the drug isn't that harmful.

Walters says marijuana is a gateway drug that can destroy lives. Alcohol is
far more destructive. It causes birth defects; degenerative liver, heart,
and nervous system disease; gastrointestinal bleeding; and cancer. Go to an
Al Anon meeting and talk to the family members and friends of alcoholics
whose lives are destroyed by this legal drug usage.

Marijuana's physical effects are not as devastating as alcohol's. Studies
have proven that babies born with fetal alcohol syndrome are scarred for
life. I am not aware of any birth defects caused by marijuana. Even opiate
addicted babies suffer reversible problems, unlike babies born with fetal
alcohol syndrome.

A police officer friend of mine says the real gateway drug is nicotine, as
dispensed in cigarettes. Almost every drug addict smokes cigarettes as well.

The hypocrisy of the old generation is being challenged. It's about time.
It's time to think outside the box. Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani says
if the bill passes it would recognize that people smoke marijuana and
responsible adults should not be made criminals because of it. Many
marijuana users are high functioning individuals.

Marijuana should never have been criminalized. Prohibition didn't work for
alcohol and it surely isn't working for marijuana. Delving into history,
one finds that hemp, the plant which produces marijuana, is also a source
of strong fiber used in rope and textiles. Competition from cheaper and
stronger hemp so threatened the cotton industry that it pressured to get
the plant declared illegal in 1937 with the passage of the Marijuana Tax Act.

Since my 50th birthday I find things that hurt which I didn't even know I
had. Every day I get older, I realize that we don't know how we are going
out of this world and I want to ensure access to legitimate pain relief
when I need it. If that should require marijuana, I want to be able to get
it from my local pharmacist or liquor store, not from an illegal drug
dealer in an unfamiliar neighborhood.

I am supporting the passage of Question 9. Marijuana needs to be legalized
and treated like alcohol. The tax revenues alone would help the state
diversify its tax base. Supporters of this question need to take control of
their lives and get out and vote this election season.

* On Question 2, however, I will vote no. We have a high divorce rate --
people need to spend their energies working on their own marriages instead
of trying to prevent others from marrying.

Marriage is a sacred religious ceremony that the government should never
have gotten involved in. Religions have the right to discriminate as they
see fit, although I think discrimination is un-Christian. Yes, the
government needs to oversee inheritances, basically to tax them. A person,
however, should be able to leave his belongings to whomever he desires. The
government should not be able to discriminate. Thus, Question 2 is a no-no.

* Gov. Kenny Guinn is back at work. While I do not begrudge him his trip to
California for medical treatment, I hope he did some research and found out
why all of these "great" doctors were in California practicing instead of
Nevada. I hope he will do everything in his power to make this state
attractive for physicians.

While he was able to afford to leave the state, the majority of the
citizens of this state have medical coverage and limited financial
resources that prohibit this luxury. It would be sad to have the legacy of
his governorship marred by the destruction of the state's excellent medical
delivery system as doctors flee the state. Welcome home, Gov. Guinn.