POLICE ACCUSED OF ILLEGAL CAMPAIGN AGAINST POT

The leader of a group pushing for a ballot question that would ease
marijuana possession laws sent a letter this morning to Clark County
Sheriff Jerry Keller accusing Metro Police of using government time
and resources to campaign against the initiative -- a violation of
state law.

"The bottom line is you shouldn't be able to use tax dollars and
resources to campaign," said Billy Rogers, campaign manager for
Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement.

Undersheriff Richard Winget said Metro broke no law when he directed
narcotics Detective Todd Raybuck to appear on television news programs
- -- including CNN's "Crossfire" -- displaying marijuana and discussing
Question 9.

"Mr. Rogers started this by stating the police officers of Nevada were
supporting Question 9," Winget said this morning. "Every time a group
takes a position, the media come to us for a response. We responded to
the media inquires. We did not mount a campaign against Question 9, we
simply responded to media requests."

The attention to Question 9 -- which would decriminalize possession of
3 ounces of marijuana by people over 21 -- increased last week when
Andy Anderson, president of Nevada Conference of Police and Sheriffs,
said his group was supporting the initiative.

The endorsement by NCOPS -- an organization of police unions --
received nationwide attention and was quickly denounced by police
officials. Raybuck went on several news shows with marijuana checked
out of Metro's evidence vault to demonstrate what 3 ounces of
marijuana looked like.

"In his 'Crossfire' appearance, Mr. Raybuck used 6 ounces of marijuana
obtained from Metro's evidence vault as a prop in his political
campaign against Question 9," Rogers wrote in the letter to Keller.
"We think it is likely that tax dollars and government resources were
used to provide Mr. Raybuck with the 6 ounces of marijuana he checked
out as 'evidence.' "

Rogers told the Sun his group has to report all its contributions and
expenses in its campaign for the ballot question and Metro should not
use government money in its campaign against the question.

Winget said Metro did not seek the media exposure but was replying to
requests for interviews.

"They (the media) deluged us and asked us to bring the marijuana," he
said.

Rogers' group seemed to score an important endorsement when NCOPS came
out last week in favor of the passage of Question 9, but that was very
short-lived. After several days of criticism, and several NCOPS board
members saying they misunderstood what Anderson was seeking support
for, the board met on Friday. Board members said they thought the
issue was medical marijuana.

Anderson resigned at Friday's meeting as the president of NCOPS -- a
group he helped found more than 20 years ago -- saying he didn't want
to hurt the credibility of the group.

"Should cops take a stand against drugs? You bet. But it's not the
best use of police time to arrest people on marijuana possession and
then they are just let go," Anderson said.