MANY PLANNING CONVENTIONS HERE ARE HIGH ON MARIJUANA PROPOSITION

If Question 9's proponents live out their field of dreams, private
adult marijuana use will be decriminalized.

But that controversial possibility raises an important question: If we
smoke it, will they come?

They, being the more than 35 million tourists who annually travel to
Las Vegas to play.

It's a question UNLV professor Patti Shock recently asked her
colleagues. The answers she received startled her. Shock, chairwoman
of the university's Tourism & Convention Department, forwarded a
column I wrote on Question 9 to an Internet list server with
approximately 4,000 meeting planners from across the country and
Europe. She also asked their opinions on whether marijuana
decriminalization would be an issue in consideration of Las Vegas as a
site for their next convention.

With two exceptions, respondents said they believed it would have no
negative effect on tourism and might possibly have a positive impact.

"I was amazed that the majority of them were supportive of it," Shock
says.

She admits a truth many Southern Nevadans refuse to acknowledge: The
rest of the world doesn't take Las Vegas as seriously as some Las Vegans do.

Take prostitution, for instance.

Locals know it's illegal in Clark County, but a large percentage of
tourists -- perhaps influenced by the proliferation of direct-to-you
"private dancer" advertisements -- believe otherwise. Either way, the
presence of readily available prostitution hasn't exactly hurt the
visitor volume.

"It amazes me how many people think prostitution is legal in Las
Vegas," Shock says. "I get that all the time."

While some people are offended by the relative openness of the
gambling and nightlife subculture, Shock also knows that Las Vegas
isn't exactly subtle. Visitors might be overwhelmed, but no one is
confused by its adult themes.

"Vegas is Vegas," she says. "If you don't like what Las Vegas offers,
stay home. There's Disney and there are other places to see, but Vegas
is Vegas."

And from the look of responses to her e-mail inquiry, pot passage
would generate more positive than negative fallout among tourists.

A sample of responses:

One tourism official: "Neutral ... but, hey, I live in Austin, where
anything goes!"

A meeting planner: "It would positively impact my opinion of Las
Vegas."

Another: "Let's see if legal pot will raise more of a stink (pun intended!)
than
the legal prostitution."

Another: "We've got our annual (meeting) in Las Vegas in October 2003, and I
doubt it will have any impact on our attendees. It would not have made a
difference in our selection."

Another (who sounds like a pro-Question 9 lobbyist): "It seems to me
that the law is wording that possession of under 3 ounces would be
deemed legal, taxable, and regulated. I think it's a great move for a
substance that's been demonized since the mid 1930s, when it was
prohibited after a 90-second congressional debate. Others may differ
in their opinions; it's really a question of whose propaganda you want
to believe."

Another: "Is it really legalizing marijuana it, or decriminalizing it? ... And
to think there are some people still in federal prison convicted for smuggling
marijuana back in the late '70s and '80s."

Another: "I'd book Vegas regardless of pot or not -- the city is an attraction,
and for the right groups it means higher attendance and bottom line that is
what
matters these days."

Another: "I think it's a great idea! People are going to smoke dope -- legal or
not -- so why not regulate and tax? I applaud LV for their forward-thinking!"

Another: "I've been to Amsterdam and I loved it. I don't think pot would make a
negative impact."

Of the planners who responded negatively, the one who elaborated
argued from a drivers' safety and social health perspective -- not on
moral grounds.

Most viewed Las Vegas as a bastion of vice, not virtue.

In a state that celebrates and promotes high-rolling gambling and
legalized prostitution, the possibility of decriminalizing pot just
doesn't sound like that outrageous an idea.

"In fact," Shock observes, "it might even help business."