cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Campaign To Use Valley Residents 





Marijuana Campaign To Use Valley Residents 
Posted by CN Staff on September 27, 2002 at 07:59:18 PT
By J.M. Kalil, Review-Journal
Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal 
Holly Brady began smoking marijuana 12 years ago after finding conventional medications did little to quell the intense pain and nausea caused by her multiple sclerosis. The disabled Las Vegan rejoiced last year after the passage of a state medical marijuana law that allowed her to legally grow her own. But her happiness faded after several attempts at home production left her with unsmokable dried weeds. She returned to breaking the law by going through a dealer. 
"It really is miraculous medicine," Brady, 49, said Thursday afternoon, a few hours after toking through her morning dose of three joints. "That's why I get it anyway I can. To me, it's survival." Backers of Question 9, which if passed Nov. 5 would ease Nevada pot possession laws and make the drug available for purchase in state-licensed stores, hope Brady and others now being placed in the public eye will convince voters that decriminalization is a good idea. Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement, the group advocating passage of Question 9, on Thursday unveiled a steering committee including Brady and about 30 other Southern Nevadans who are lending their names, stories and opinions to the campaign to pass the ballot measure. NRLE campaign manager Billy Rogers said he believes the committee members, some of whom will appear in television ads, will boost support for Question 9. A recent Review-Journal poll found public approval of the issue has languished since earlier this year. "Where our campaign failed during the summer was not putting a human face on Question 9," he said. "This does that." The group also hopes that filling the committee's membership with Silver State residents, including a few high-profile Nevadans, will help erode the perception that Question 9 is being jammed through the state by out-of-state, pro-marijuana interests. "This is by Nevadans for Nevada," said Rogers, a Texan whose salary is paid by the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project. The committee includes: Democratic Assemblywoman Chris Guinchigliani, who serves as chairwoman; Democrat Wendell Williams, the chairman of the Assembly Education Committee; Dick Carver, a Republican Nye County commissioner; Bob Fulkerson of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada; Andy Anderson, the former president of the Nevada Conference of Police and Sheriffs; four area doctors and two attorneys. "We're not talking about a bunch of hippies here," Guinchigliani said. If Nevada voters pass Question 9 in November and again in two years, people 21 and older will be able to legally possess up to 3 ounces of marijuana in their home, but not in vehicles or public places. Use of the drug by minors also would remain illegal, as would driving under the influence of marijuana. The drug also would be sold in smoke shops and taxed. Currently, possession of 1 ounce or less or marijuana in Nevada is a misdemeanor subject to a $600 fine for the first two offenses. Silver State voters already have approved the use of medical marijuana, but Guinchigliani said stories such as Brady's show the law isn't helping patients legally entitled to marijuana. The legislator said Question 9 should appeal to voters on a number of other fronts, including Nevadans' traditional dislike for legislating against personal vice. "If you're an adult in the privacy of your own home, who's the government to come in and tell you what to do?" she said. Anderson, who resigned as president of NCOPS last month, has argued that pot possession cases waste not only the time of law enforcement officers who patrol Nevada's streets but the limited resources of the state's heavily clogged courts system. Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney Gary Booker, who has become a leading opponent of Question 9, said that's untrue. The prosecutor accused those who joined the committee of endangering their fellow Nevadans. "They're creating a public safety nightmare," said Booker, who has prosecuted several high-profile driving under the influence cases involving deaths. "I don't know what their motivations will be, but I think they have to care less about kids, because if they did (care), they would recognize the inherent danger of legalizing this drug." Booker said the out-of-state proponents of marijuana decriminalization are trying to use Nevada as a testing ground for a national drug legalization battle. "They want to use us as test rats and test monkeys, and I don't want to see that happen to this community," said Booker, one of the several Question 9 opponents who frequently refer to Rogers as a carpetbagger. "If this is such a good idea, why don't they take it to Texas?" Booker and other opponents have formed their own group, Nevadans Against Legalizing Marijuana, and plan to announce today their own steering committee of anti-pot advocates.Note: Lawmakers, doctors among those backing ballot initiative.Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal (NV)Author:  J.M. Kalil, Review-JournalPublished: Friday, September 27, 2002Copyright: 2002 Las Vegas Review-JournalContact: letters lvrj.comWebsite: http://www.lvrj.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:NRLEhttp://www.nrle.org/Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/ Discussion About Pot Initiative Becomes Heated http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14259.shtmlSmoking Up The Debate on Pot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14237.shtmlNew Breed of Voters May Stir Pot of Politicshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14214.shtml 
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Comment #3 posted by trainwreck on September 27, 2002 at 16:44:14 PT
That's pretty brilliant to schedule a 
medical conference on the use of MJ for pain management in Reno, oh, just about a month or so just before a big vote on MJ in said state!!!You folks deserve kudos for strategy!!!
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Comment #2 posted by The GCW on September 27, 2002 at 10:02:32 PT
Tomorrow
Symposium on Cannabinoids in Pain Management 
by Pete Brady (28 Sept, 2002) Saturday September 28, Reno, Nevada 
Dr. Ethan Russo, in RENO. http://www.hempbc.com/articles/2574.htmlPlease contact Dr. Russo via email at erusso blackfoot.net for more information.A Conference Announcement is available as follows:www.aapainmanage.org/AAPM/Confrnce/conf2002.htmlA Conference Brochure is available as follows:http://www.aapainmanage.org/AAPM/Confrnce/Conf 2002 Agenda.pdfOf course, full Continuing Education credits for a variety of disciplines are available for this meeting. We hope you will consider joining us. If you are not able to attend, we hope that you will explore other available sources of information on the topic, including the Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics:www.cannabis-med.org/science/jcant.htm
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Comment #1 posted by Sam Adams on September 27, 2002 at 09:02:59 PT
Keep talking...
""They want to use us as test rats and test monkeys, and I don't want to see that happen to this community," said Booker, one of the several Question 9 opponents who frequently refer to Rogers as a carpetbagger. "If this is such a good idea, why don't they take it to Texas?"That's right buddy, keep offering these high-quality soundbites right up till November! There's only so many ignorant, non-pot-smoking rednecks out there, and they're already voting against the initiative anyways.What a brilliant move by MPP to bring in an experienced political guy like Rogers. He's going up against a bunch of good-ol-boy sheriffs & DAs and it's clear that they're totally outclassed. 
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