BROTHELS, BLACKJACK, AND ... BONGS? OH MY.

LAS VEGAS - This famously live-and-let-live state, where legal prostitution
has given rise to $7 million brothel-resorts and where legal gambling
includes video poker machines in grocery stores, may now be poised to break
another vice barrier.

A first-in-the-nation initiative appearing on Nevada's ballot in November
asks the public to legalize marijuana. Not just for medicinal purposes. For
recreational use, too. If the initiative is approved, it would then have to
pass again in 2004 to become a constitutional amendment.

It's no accident that the Silver State has become the national focus of this
debate. The Washington-based Marijuana Policy Project scoured the political
landscape last year for a test state and settled on Nevada because of its
well-known libertarian bent, a small population that makes the campaign less
expensive, and an electorate who already overwhelmingly approved the medical
use of marijuana in two ballot questions.

Indeed, there's a real possibility that Nevadans could approve the measure,
despite federal drug laws that bar any possession whatsoever. The petition
effort that placed the initiative on the ballot garnered more than 109,000
signatures - nearly double the required number. And two recent local
newspaper polls show the public evenly split.

"It's a tight race, and we haven't even started yet," says Vincent Frey,
deputy campaign manager for Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement, the
group pushing the initiative. "We plan to identify 25,000 households that we
think can swing this our way."

Specifically, the initiative would decriminalize possession of less than
three ounces of cannabis for anyone over 21. It would also require state
legislators to devise a regulatory system for its manufacture and sale.

The largest newspaper in the state, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, endorsed
the measure as a means to "bring compassion and common sense to drug laws."
Gov. Kenny Guinn, a Republican, won't take sides, saying through his
spokesman that he's "anxious to see how the electorate votes."

Pro-Pot's Campaign Machine

To further its cause, the Marijuana Policy Project spent $375,000 on the
petition drive. Another $150,000 has already been raised. More is promised
as the campaign gears up to buy TV advertising, open offices in both Las
Vegas and Reno, and hire more than 50 employees.

These pro-pot forces argue that law-enforcement officers have better things
to do in this age of terrorism than to bust marijuana users for what some
see as a harmless hobby. "We know some people develop an unhealthy
relationship with marijuana, but the same can be said about alcohol or
tobacco," says Robert Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy
Project, which is funding and directing the Nevada effort. "That doesn't
mean all adults who use marijuana should be arrested."

Even federal officials admit that the measure could be effective, inasmuch
as the issue is primarily on the state and local level anyway. The feds
handle only the biggest marijuana busts, so if state or local agents didn't
press these charges in Nevada, they'd largely go unprosecuted, says Tom
Riley, spokesman for the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Nevada's police apparently provided some surprising backup for such
arguments last week. The umbrella organization for nine law-enforcement
unions announced its endorsement on grounds that "a simple marijuana arrest
takes [police] off the street for several hours and sometimes over half of
[a] shift."

That endorsement was rescinded two days later amid embarrassing headlines
calling Nevada's cops pro-pot. Some union chiefs insisted either they
thought they were supporting the medical use of marijuana or they didn't
know they were discussing an official endorsement of a real ballot question.

The flap - which ended in the resignation of the umbrella organization's
president - jarred the dormant opposition into action. The day after the
endorsement, a group of about 25 law-enforcement officials, drug-treatment
advocates, and social conservatives met to plan their strategy.

Particularly appalled is Deputy District Attorney Gary Booker, who is
leading the as yet-unnamed counter group and heads the vehicular crimes unit
in Clark County, which includes Las Vegas. The prosecutor says the proposal
as it is worded could invalidate current laws governing driving under the
influence of marijuana, raise auto insurance rates for everyone, and turn
Nevada into a "stoner haven."

"All Nevada is going to do is look stupid and foolish," says Mr. Booker, who
borrowed three ounces of cannabis from the police-evidence room to show the
media that it's enough for 250 joints. "It would be like enacting a
constitutional amendment that legalizes slavery. It's illegal and it will
still be illegal."

Leave Us Alone

Still, such attitudes run counter to Nevada's independent streak. "Nevadans
generally have an attitude that, wherever possible, leave the people alone
to make their own choices," says Craig Walton, a professor of ethics and
policy studies at University of Nevada at Las Vegas. "This measure is
probably a natural for a state with a frontier mentality that says, 'Law and
order is useful, but let's not go too far.' "

Moreover, many in this state are bitter with the federal government over its
decision to go ahead with a national nuclear-waste dump about 100 miles
outside of Las Vegas. So this move could be cast for voters as a form of
rebellion, says Mr. Frey of Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement.

And rather than being offended by the possibility of becoming the nation's
Doobie Capital, some Sin City businesses are positively high on the
prospect. "There are unlimited tourism possibilities," travel agent Terry
Wilsey gushes. "Las Vegas could become the American Amsterdam."