POT COULD BECOME NEXT TABOO NEVADA LEGALIZES

LAS VEGAS - Nevada established its renegade reputation in the 1920s when
local leaders thumbed their noses at the federal ban on alcohol, with one
mayor openly threatening to put "a barrel of whiskey with a dipper" on every
street corner.

The state, long a haven for prostitution, then legalized the sex trade in 13
of its 17 counties. And, at a time when the rest of America considered
gambling taboo, Nevada enshrined it in gaudy casinos. Now the state regarded
by many as the sin capital of America is again pioneering a new frontier:
the legalization of recreational pot smoking.

In November, Nevada voters will decide whether to become the first state to
legalize the recreational use of marijuana, for quantities of 3 ounces or
less, for adults 21 and older. If the measure passes in November and again
in November 2004 as required for amendments to the state constitution,
Nevada would tax marijuana and establish a distribution system -- possibly
selling it in smoke shops or pharmacies.

Earlier this month, the state's largest law enforcement group, the Nevada
Conference of Police and Sheriffs, endorsed the initiative, saying
decriminalizing marijuana would free officers to concentrate more on
"life-threatening and serious incidents." But the group reversed the
endorsement and fired its president, Andy Anderson, citing a
"misunderstanding."

The initiative thrusts Nevada into the battle between the federal government
and nine states over their efforts to legalize medicinal marijuana for
chronically ill patients and into the center of an international debate over
moves by Canada, Great Britain and other nations to approve across-the-board
use of marijuana.

More than 60 years after the federal government passed the first law
prohibiting its use, marijuana is the most debated and studied illegal drug
in the nation. It is also the most widely used illicit substance -- the U.S.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration says that one in
three people older than 12have tried it at least once during their lifetime
- -- despite billions spent by law enforcement authorities to fight it.

"What this does is allow respectable people to use marijuana in their homes
and bans it every place else," said Billy Rogers, spokesman for Nevadans for
Responsible Law Enforcement, the measure's sponsor.

In 2000, about 743,000 people nationwide were imprisoned for marijuana
possession, the highest number ever.