PROSECUTOR: NEVADA CAN'T MAKE PROFITS FROM MARIJUANA SALES

RENO, Nev. (AP) - A group's contention that the state could reap millions of
dollars by selling and taxing marijuana was branded as "misleading" and a
"pipe dream" by a leading opponent of the drive to permit adult Nevadans to
legally possess marijuana.

Washoe County District Attorney Dick Gammick on Monday criticized Nevadans
for Responsible Law Enforcement, which supports the initiative on the
November election ballot.

Gammick said federal laws would prohibit the state from selling and taxing
marijuana.

His comments came after the leader of the pro-marijuana drive, Billy Rogers,
said his group has commissioned a study to determine how much the state
might receive if it grew marijuana and sold it in stores like the ones Utah
uses for liquor sales.

"When he gives pipe dreams and makes these comments about all the money the
state is going to make he's totally ignoring the fact that the sale and
possession of marijuana is against federal law and the federal government
isn't going to allow that to happen unless there's a change by Congress,"
Gammick said.

"This is nothing more than another misleading statement to try to get people
to vote for its legalization. ... It's a ruse on the voting public to do
nothing but legalize drugs," he said.

Rogers accused Gammick of resorting to "scare tactics" to try to defeat
Question 9.

He noted the nation's drug czar, John Walters, has said if Nevadans vote for
the initiative, the federal government would not "strong arm" them by
stepping up enforcement of federal drug possession laws.

"The drug czar has said if this initiative passes the feds won't crack down
on Nevada," Rogers said. "He has said people have the right to make their
own decisions.

"Unfortunately, the opponents would rather scare the voters than debate the
issue because the facts are not on their side. We're confident the
Legislature will enact a system (for selling and taxing marijuana) that will
not invite federal intervention," he added.

Walters' spokesman Tom Riley accused Rogers of taking his boss's comments
out of context.

Walters, head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, said at a July
24 news conference in Las Vegas that federal officials would not step up
enforcement of small drug possession cases if the Nevada measure passes.

"That's totally misleading, what he (Rogers) said," Riley said. "The
district attorney is absolutely correct when he says we would not allow the
state to tax and sell marijuana.

"The sale of marijuana is a violation of federal law and there is nothing
that a state referendum can do to change that," he said.

In California, federal officials repeatedly have raided cannabis clubs and
made arrests despite a 1996 ballot initiative allowing certain medical
patients to grow, possess and use marijuana.

Gammick said the initiative is the work of a national group that wants to
see marijuana legalized and not a grass-roots effort of Nevadans.

Rogers' group is a subsidiary of the Medical Marijuana Project of
Washington, D.C.

His group collected well over the 60,000 signatures necessary to get it on
the ballot. Supporters argue it is a waste of taxpayer dollars to prosecute
minor pot offenders.

Voters will be asked whether to amend the Nevada Constitution and allow the
possession of 3 ounces or less by adults.

The initiative, if approved by voters this fall and again in 2004, also
would force the 2005 Legislature to set up a system to regulate "the
cultivation, taxation, sale and distribution of marijuana" to adult
Nevadans.