MOVE TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA IN NEVADA HAS A CHANCE

Over the past few weeks, they've been seemingly everywhere - libraries, the
DMV, meetings, etc. - with their petitions and pens. This small army of
clipboard-holding minions, some paid and some volunteers, has one goal: The
legalization of marijuana in Nevada.

Not just medical marijuana - that's already legal as the result of a
constitutional amendment overwhelmingly approved by voters in 1998 and
2000. This is the legalization of the use and possession of three ounces or
less of marijuana by anybody 21 or older.

In other words, it could be 4:20 in Nevada 24/7 if this amendment gets
enough signatures to make the ballot, and is then approved by voters this
year and in 2004.

The folks behind this movement, a newly formed political action committee
called Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement, are being tight-lipped
about their efforts. Gail Tuzzolo, a paid political consultant heading up
the PAC, said the group is too focused on getting enough signatures right
now to talk to the media.

"We're sort of doing our news blackout," Tuzzolo said. "We're not talking
to the press. We're working on getting all the signatures in."

Bruce Mirken, the director of communications of the Marijuana Policy
Project (the Washington, D.C.-based group behind Nevadans for Responsible
Law Enforcement), was equally unhelpful.

"We're in the process of getting signatures," he said. "We'll have a lot to
say when it gets on the ballot. ... We're not seeking coverage right now,
because we're seeking signatures."

In defense of these folks, they do have their hands full. By June 16, the
group has to turn in at least 61,336 voters to the secretary of state -
that's 10 percent of the total number of votes cast in the 2000 statewide
election. Additionally, signatures representing 10 percent of the total of
2000 votes from 13 of the state's 17 counties must be included. The group
has been collecting signatures since May 9. That's a lot of John Hancocks
in a short amount of time, and the group estimates they'll need about
110,000 total signatures for enough of them to be valid.

But whether or not they want coverage right now, they're getting it. And
before they finally stopped talking to us, both Tuzzolo and Mirken said
they were close to the necessary pace to reach their goal.

So, what does this all mean? Let's break it down.

The initiative, if successful, would amend the Nevada Constitution to say
the following:

- -- That the use or possession of three ounces or less of weed by anybody 21
or older would not be a "cause for arrest, civil or criminal penalty, or
seizure or forfeiture of assets." In other words, pot would be legal in the
eyes of the state constitution.

- -- The state would have to develop "a system of regulation, designed to
curb the unlawful production of marijuana, for the cultivation, taxation,
sale, and distribution of marijuana ..."

- -- Advertising of pot would be illegal.

- -- Weed would be taxed similar to tobacco and cigarettes.

- -- It could not be used in cars or public places, and you could not be
"driving dangerously" or operating heavy machinery while under the influence.

Of course, marijuana would still be illegal under federal law, opening a
very interesting can of worms.

Before they got tight-lipped, Tuzzolo and others painted the petition
primarily as something to help out medical marijuana users by instituting a
system for distribution, and by making it so sick patients wouldn't need a
doctor's permission to get the marijuana (many doctors have been weary to
sign off on marijuana use, fearing the feds).

The petition drive comes two years after voters approved medical marijuana,
and just months after the 2001 Legislature chilled out what was one of the
nation's toughest marijuana laws. Before, marijuana possession was a
felony; now, in small amounts, it is simply a misdemeanor.

All of this is very interesting, and it will become moot if the petitioners
fail to get enough signatures. But should they succeed, here are some
things to look out for:

- -- The buzz is that anti-Question 2 (The anti-gay "Protection of Marriage"
Initiative, which will be on the ballot for a second and final time this
year) forces may be looking at this as an equalizer. It's well-known that
Question 2 exists, in part, because its right-wing supporters knew it would
bring right-wing voters to the polls. Well, some proponents of the
marijuana initiative hope that if it makes the ballot, it will have the
same effect on left-wing voters. One flaw with this logic: In 2000, the
medical marijuana initiative, which passed overwhelmingly, did not
accomplish this. Nonetheless, for some, hope springs eternal.

- -- Why Nevada? The Marijuana Policy Project has been willing to pay $1 per
signature and pay big bucks for a consultant to get this measure on the
ballot. Sure, Nevada's relatively small size makes it easier to do this
here than in, say, California. And it would set a nice precedent; if this
ballot initiative passes muster, Nevada would become the first state to
effectively give the finger to the feds in terms of marijuana laws. But
beyond that, why choose Nevada for this groundbreaking move? (When asked
this question point-blank, Mirken said he was not the one to talk to about
this, and that he'd try to get someone else to talk to CityLife; nobody
called back.)

- -- What are the consequences? Considering that George W. Bush and John
Ashcroft are in office, what would they do to Nevada if this makes it through?

It's all fun to speculate about, assuming the petition drive is successful.
And that's a moderately big "if" at this point.