LEGALIZING POT NOT IN THE CARDS

If you ask the folks from the Marijuana Policy Project why they chose to
make Nevada the nation's first battleground in the war to legalize
marijuana, you won't get a straight answer. They'll either dance around the
question or make very little sense.

"Nevada is the only state in the last decade that's enacted marijuana
decriminalization legislation," says Billy Rogers, the man the Marijuana
Policy Project sent to Nevada.

He's referring to a move by the state Legislature in 2001 to make possession
of an ounce or less of pot a misdemeanor. Until then, it was a felony to
possess any amount. So, the marijuana advocates have come to a state whose
pot laws were among the harshest in the nation less than two years ago. We
can only speculate about their reasons.

They've put a lot of time and money into Nevada, so they must think they're
on to something. They came from Washington, D.C., where they are one of the
nation's most prominent pot-legalization organizations, and formed a
political action committee, the hilariously named Nevadans for Responsible
Law Enforcement. As of their Aug. 27 contribution and expenses report, the
group has dropped more than $500,000 into the effort.

But what makes them think Nevada voters will vote to legalize the possession
of up to 3 ounces of marijuana? They probably looked at Nevada's small
population and figured that this would be a relatively easy place to mount a
statewide campaign. And they must have been counting on Nevada's reputation
as a libertarian-thinking, live-or- let-die, anything-goes state.

Their reasoning is understandable. Nevada was the first state to give
gambling a home, and look how well that worked out: Nevada-style casinos now
dot the country. Nevada's rural counties are the only in the nation to
legalize prostitution, and Nevada has one of the nation's highest smoking
rates (either No. 1 or No. 2, depending on the year). When the federal
government wanted a place to dump its nuclear waste, Nevada was the only
state seriously considered.

Are you looking for a place to legally indulge all of your vices? Nevada's
the place to be.

Or, at least it used to be. Yes, Nevada still has the gambling, the
prostitution, the smoking and, soon, the nuclear waste. But it also has a
growing and increasingly powerful right-wing movement. And that is why the
marijuana legalization effort will almost surely be voted down come
November.

Until two years ago, Nevada was one of the nation's gay-friendliest states.
In 1993, the Legislature revoked the sodomy law. In 1999, it became illegal
for employers to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.

But then in 2000, the Coalition for the Protection of Marriage formed.
Largely funded by right-wing Christian groups, as well as the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the organization launched a successful
petition drive to put a question on the ballot defining marriage as being
only between one man and one woman. This passed with 70 percent of the vote
(although it needs to pass again this year, as amendments to the Nevada
Constitution must pass by the voters twice).

Conservative groups once viewed as fringe had gained power, seemingly
overnight and, not surprisingly, the marijuana ballot question has drawn the
ire of some of these same right-wingers. Polls now show that the marijuana
ballot question is doomed. An August poll by the Las Vegas Review-Journal
revealed that 55 percent were opposed and 40 percent were in favor.

The Marijuana Policy Project may have picked the right state to start its
marijuana legalization effort. But it seems to have picked the wrong time.