NEVADA TO VOTE ON MAKING DOPE LEGAL

VOTERS in Nevada are to decide next month whether to become the first state
in the United States to legalise marijuana.

An initiative appearing on the state ballot asks the public to decriminalise
possession of less than three ounces of cannabis for people over the age of
21 and to require state legislators to devise a regulatory system for its
production and sale.

Under Nevada law, even if the measure is passed, it would have to be
approved by voters again in 2004 to become a constitutional amendment.

But supporters are hopeful that it will be approved, marking a startling
break from federal drug laws that prohibit all marijuana possession.

The petition that placed the initiative on the ballot garnered more than
109,000 signatures or nearly double the required number.

A September 26 poll in Las Vegas showed a majority of voters supporting the
measure, with 55 per cent in favour and 43 per cent opposed.

In addition, the group promoting the constitutional change, Nevadans for
Responsible Law Enforcement, or NRLE, is flush with money - it has almost
UKP330,000 on hand - and has run TV ads since September 12.

Opponents, who waited until September 27 to officially form Nevadans Against
Legalising Marijuana, may not even have money for mailing, according to the
group's members.

Opponents are appalled that the largest newspaper in the state, the Las
Vegas Review-Journal, endorsed the measure as a means to "bring compassion
and common sense to drug laws" and that Republican Governor Kenny Guinn has
refused take sides.

But even if the measure is passed, it is believed federal agents will still
investigate and prosecute drug dealers, so anyone who sells marijuana - even
under a state law permitting it - would remain in jeopardy under federal
law.

Pro-marijuana activists acknowledge that they targeted Nevada because of its
libertarian population where voters amended the constitution through votes
in 1998 and 2000 to legalise medical marijuana.