RENO PUBLIC OFFICIALS SLAM MARIJUANA BALLOT MEASURE

A statewide measure headed for the November ballot to legalize possession
of up to three 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, said
sheriffs spokeswoman Deputy Michelle Youngs.

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

Nevada changed its marijuana laws last year so that possession of less than
one 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.