RENO-AREA OFFICIALS OPPOSE MARIJUANA MEASURE

District Attorney Says Proponents Concealing Real Goal Of Legalization Of
All Drugs

RENO -- A statewide measure headed for the November ballot to legalize
possession of up to 3 ounces of marijuana marks another step for a group
that wants to legalize all drugs, according to Washoe County District
Attorney Richard Gammick.

Gammick said marijuana proponents aren't being upfront about their motives.
The district attorney said he made a similar warning in 2000, when Nevada
voters approved legalization of marijuana for medicinal uses.

"There is a national coalition, and their goal is the legalization of all
illegal drugs," Gammick said.

"I said two years ago that they're coming back again because they will not
quit."

Backers of the initiative say easing marijuana laws would give law
enforcement more time to combat serious crime. Nationwide, 750,000 arrests
were made for marijuana possession in 2000, with each arrest consuming
three to eight hours in booking and court time, said Billy Rogers, campaign
manager for the initiative.

"That is a colossal waste of law enforcement time," Rogers told the Reno
Gazette-Journal.

"Most people think law enforcement time could be better spent going after
murderers, rapists and other violent criminals, and fighting the war on
terrorism."

Rogers said the ballot measure stops short of true legalization because it
would prohibit marijuana use in public, including at parks and casinos.

"When you're banning the public use of marijuana, that's not legalization,"
said Rogers, who is on leave from his position as state policy director for
the Medical Marijuana Project in Washington, D.C., while he manages the
campaign for the Nevada initiative.

The proposal needs approval from voters in November and again in 2004 to
become law.

The Washoe County sheriff's office opposes the marijuana initiative, in
part because it would put Nevada in conflict with federal law, sheriff's
spokeswoman Deputy Michelle Youngs said.

Youngs also questioned whether the initiative would reduce significantly
the number of arrests because marijuana possession usually is discovered
after deputies arrest someone on a different charge.

Nevada changed its marijuana laws last year so that possession of less than
1 ounce is a misdemeanor rather than a felony. That means most people
caught with less than an ounce of marijuana are cited rather than jailed.