Pubdate: Wed, 30 Oct 2002
Source: Tahoe Daily Tribune (South Lake Tahoe, CA)
Copyright: 2002 Tahoe Daily Tribune
Contact:  http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/443
Author: William Ferchand, Tahoe Daily Tribune
Cited: Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement ( www.nrle.org )
Cited: Marijuana Policy Project ( www.mpp.org )
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?162 (Nevadans for Responsible Law
Enforcement)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?163 (Question 9 (NV))

NEVADA VOTERS FACE CONTROVERSIAL MARIJUANA INITIATIVE

With a handful of marijuana-related initiatives on ballots across the
nation, Nevada's Question 9 is seen as the most far-reaching, controversial
and aggressive during a time of escalating pro-marijuana discussion.

Question 9 was placed on the November ballot when Nevadans for Responsible
Law Enforcement representatives collected about 109,000 signatures. It
states an adult can possess up to 3 ounces of the leafy drug which could be
bought at state-licensed shops.

Critics have said the initiative, which would need to pass this November and
again in November 2004 to legally change the state's Constitution, would
transform the state into a quasi-Amsterdam while attracting the wrong kind
of tourists.

Proponents believe the initiative is the right step to decriminalize
marijuana and construct a system where medical marijuana patients can safely
buy their medicine at a low cost. The passage of the initiative would allow
authorities to focus on violent crimes rather than "tens of thousands of
non-violent marijuana users," the NRLE's Web site states.

Both sides have their own facts, figureheads and finances. But mixed in the
middle is federal law stating possession of marijuana is illegal.

Bruce Mirken is the communications director for the Marijuana Policy
Project, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., which funds and supports the
Question 9 campaign. Mirken had two reasons why federal law wouldn't
supersede Question 9 if the initiative becomes law in January 2005.

"We would hope that the federal government would recognize that shift in
opinion and rethink some of its similar laws," Mirken said.

If the government doesn't consider the end of marijuana prohibition, Mirken
cited a commerce clause in the Constitution which would make it difficult
for federal authorities to impose restrictions if Nevada doesn't import or
export marijuana.

Mirken mentioned a UNLV study that found taxation of marijuana sales would
bring nearly $29 million in state revenue if 750,000 regular users bought
marijuana at $250 an ounce. This money would go into the general fund.

Bob Wenner, chief deputy with the Douglas County Sheriff's Department,
expressed his opinion that legal marijuana would increase traffic accidents
and provide a readily available gateway drug for adults and children.

"We have enough drunk drivers on the road as it is," Wenner said. "We don't
need to double that."

Deputy Chris Griffith, the D.A.R.E. officer for fifth-graders, was concerned
with possible long-term health issues.

"We're definitely not in favor of it," Griffith said. "It's not good
role-modeling and marijuana is a gateway drug."

Besides Wenner and Griffith, Nevada Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa
announced on Oct. 17 that she opposes the initiative and discredited a
commercial supporting Question 9 that suggested she favored the initiative.

"Although I understand and share concerns about medical uses regarding pain
management and so on, Question 9 is not the answer," she said in a
statement.

To nobody's surprise, drug czar John Walters and Drug Enforcement
Administration chief Asa Hutchinson have been outspoken critics of the
initiative. Walters has visited Las Vegas numerous times to speak to
residents.

Arizona has a marijuana initiative that, if passed, would create a medical
marijuana card and distribution system, reduce possession to a civil fine
and would require a conviction before asset forfeiture in drug cases.

An initiative in South Dakota would make it legal for people to plant and
possess hemp plants that have 1 percent or less of tetrahydrocannabinol
(THC), the main active ingredient in marijuana that stimulates the high.

Mirken, from the Marijuana Policy Project, said the organization has
supplied about $1.9 million to the Question 9 crusade. Numerous polls
regarding Question 9 have found support slipping. A poll sponsored by the
Las Vegas Review-Journal found 60 percent of 625 registered voters against
Question 9 while 36 were in favor and 4 percent were undecided.

Mirken seemed unfazed by the poll.

"That poll, I think, has little relationship to what's going to happen in
the election," Mirken said. "A lot of our supporters aren't regular voters
who feel disenchanted from politics."

Steven Brown, a 67-year-old science teacher at Lake Tahoe Community College,
thinks the initiative would allow people to abuse marijuana.

"I think it's just opening up Pandora's box," Brown said from his Zephyr
Cove home, adding, "If drugs are needed for people with various diseases,
then they can get legal pharmaceutical prescriptions."

Rachel West, a 24-year-old LTCC student, had a different view.

"I think it's a good idea," she said. "It's good for the economy and good
for people because they don't have to hide what they do."
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MAP posted-by: Josh