NEVADA POLICE GROUP BACKS POT LEGALIZATION

LAS VEGAS - Nevada's largest police organization Tuesday endorsed the
marijuana initiative.

The board of the Nevada Conference of Police and Sheriffs, an umbrella
group that has 3,000 members and represents about 65 percent of the state's
street patrol officers, voted 9-0 to support the proposed constitutional
change that would decriminalize possession of up to three ounces of marijuana.

"I was a Metro Police officer for 28 years and I spent a lot of time
booking people on marijuana charges that never went to court," said NCOP
President Andy Anderson, former president of the Police Protective
Association union.

"It would take anywhere from a couple of hours for a single arrest to about
half my shift if there was a line at the booking window or multiple arrests
- - time that could have been better spent on the streets addressing violent
crime."

Billy Rogers, spokesman for Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement, which
supports Question 9, said this is the first police group to break ranks and
support the initiative.

"The perception in Nevada was that all law enforcement agencies would line
up against this measure, but this endorsement shows that we did listen to
what police wanted when this bill was drafted," Rogers aid.

Anderson said safeguards in the bill that include strict penalties for
people who smoke marijuana in public, sell pot to minors or drive under the
influence and kill people, played a big role in his group endorsing it.

"We do not support the smoking of marijuana," Anderson said. "But violent
crime is on the rise and terrorism remains a real threat. Our priorities in
law enforcement have changed and, with out limited resources, so should our
laws."

Nevada changed its marijuana laws last year, making it a misdemeanor for
possession of less than one ounce instead of a felony.

Question 9, which was put on the ballot by the Marijuana Policy Project,
would have to pass in November and again in 2004 to become law.

Law enforcement agencies and prosecutors have come out against the
initiative saying it would create more problems for police officers and
prosecutors with the potential for additional crime and driving the
influence incidents, as well as encourage use by minors.

Metro Police Detective David Kallas, executive director of the Las Vegas
Police Protective Association, had just returned from a trip out of town
and didn't know about the vote. He said he is against the initiative
because it does not address the "larger problem" problem of drug trafficking.

"Both personally and professionally, while you've eased the burden of the
user, you haven't assisted law enforcement with the overall problem of drug
trafficking," he said. "The people who purchase it still have to purchase
it somewhere."