MAN BEHIND MARIJUANA PROPOSAL ESCHEWS ITS USE

CARSON CITY -- The man behind the drive to make Nevada the first state with
legal marijuana says he never uses the stuff.

"I have smoked in the past, more than 15 or 20 years ago, but I didn't like
it," said Billy Rogers, campaign manager and spokesman for Nevadans for
Responsible Law Enforcement. "It wasn't my cup of tea. I won't smoke if the
question passes. It isn't something I choose to do."

Reared in Austin, Texas, the 40-year-old Rogers remembers friends, some now
lawyers and successful business owners, who were busted for small amounts
of marijuana and then went through hell trying to clean up criminal records.

"It is just awful that otherwise law-abiding citizens have to go through an
arrest and be put in jail when prosecutors know it is not a serious crime,"
he said. "The greatest harm from marijuana is threat of jail."

Despite all the laws against marijuana use, Rogers says studies show there
are 11 million regular pot smokers in the United States, including 150,000
in Nevada.

To him, cigarettes and alcohol are more harmful.

"No one has overdosed from smoking marijuana," he said. "Certainly there
are dangers associated with smoking marijuana. I don't advocate anyone
using marijuana, but the criminal justice system should not be treating
these people as criminals. Marijuana is not in the same ballpark as cocaine
or heroin."

Washoe County District Attorney Richard Gammick has become one of the most
outspoken critics of Question 9. In his county, repeat marijuana offenders
attend drug court classes. If they stay clean for a year, they receive a
diploma, and their records are expunged. Clark County has a similar program.

"I resent these people from Washington, D.C., and around the county trying
to tell us what to do in our state," he said.

Rogers resents those who consider him a carpetbagger. An avid sports fan
and blackjack player, he said he has made three or four trips a year to Las
Vegas since he was 21.

"I have contributed my fair share to the economy here," he said. "If I am
not a 20-year resident of Las Vegas, then I certainly feel like one. I have
seen the city grow and change."

He said people like Gammick are missing the message sent by the 110,000
Nevadans who signed the petition to put Question 9 on the Nov. 5 ballot.

"We will win because we are protecting the privacy rights of people," he
said. "Most Nevadans support that. This is not about the marijuana leaf,
but the kind of law enforcement we are going to have in our state."

Rogers moved to Las Vegas in May to take over the petition-gathering drive
of Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement. He had been hired in December
by the Washington, D.C.-based Medical Marijuana Project as its director of
state policies.

During the spring, Rogers worked on efforts, so far unsuccessful, to
establish medical marijuana programs in Vermont and Massachusetts. Then the
Marijuana Policy Project offered him the job in Nevada.

With passage of Question 9 in November and again in 2004, adult Nevadans
would be permitted under the state constitution to possess up to 3 ounces
of marijuana in the privacy of their homes. Nevadans have already approved
the use of medical marijuana, and about 200 have signed up for the program.

For most of his adult life, Rogers ran political campaigns. He and his
parents have all served as campaign managers for Democrats seeking the
governor's office in Texas.

During the 1998 gubernatorial campaign, Rogers represented Democrat Garry
Mauro, a longtime friend, in his race against incumbent Gov. George W.
Bush. Mauro lost by 36 percentage points.

Rogers contended Bush took Mauro's message and increased education funding
and teacher pay and reformed the laws governing HMOs.

"The perception of Bush is as a conservative, but he did things Democrat
governors haven't done, like raise teacher salaries and making inroads with
the Hispanic community," Rogers said.

Despite the loss, Rogers is proud Mauro took the high road in that
campaign. There was no mention of speculation about whether Bush had
previously used cocaine, or his drunken driving arrest in 1976, which was
raised in the presidential campaign two years later.

"Politics is a peaceful means of war," Rogers said. "You ought to be civil.
It is not a blood sport."

In the early 1990s, Rogers spent three years in Russia, editing the Moscow
Guardian magazine and conducting seminars to try to teach ex- communists
the benefits of capitalism.

"It was surreal," Rogers said about his time in Russia. "I remember we had
rock concerts for privatization. They are so far ahead of where they were
in '91. The transformation has been amazing."

He also spent two years running a Web site that provided sports
information. The site relied on advertising revenue, which dried up in 2000
and 2001.

"Talking about sports all day was like heaven," said Rogers, admitting he
attended the University of Texas strictly to acquire good seats at Texas
Longhorn football games. "Part of the fun of living in Las Vegas is the
sports books. They are the next best things to going to stadiums."