cannabisnews.com: Nevada Weighs Legal Marijuana





Nevada Weighs Legal Marijuana
Posted by CN Staff on September 29, 2002 at 13:30:13 PT
By Svetlana Kolchik, Gannett News Service
Source: Detroit News 
Americans go to Nevada for a stroke of luck from a slot machine, a quick wedding or divorce or sex for cash at a licensed brothel. Soon, some may find another temptation in Nevada -- getting "high" without getting busted.  On the first Tuesday in November and then again in the fall of 2004, Nevadans will vote on whether their state should legalize marijuana.
The ballot measure, if approved twice, would make Nevada the first state to allow adults 21 and over to possess and buy up to three ounces of the drug -- enough for about 100 joints -- from state-regulated outlets.  The momentum for loosening laws on this drug banned by Congress in 1937 is growing nationwide despite staunch resistance from the federal government.  Arizona and South Dakota have proposals to soften marijuana laws on their ballots this fall, too.  Twelve states, beginning with Oregon in 1973, have already reduced penalties for pot possession and its recreational use from a felony to a misdemeanor with fines as little as $100.  Nine states, including Nevada, California, Oregon, Hawaii and Colorado, have legalized cultivation and use of small amounts of marijuana by AIDS, cancer, glaucoma and epilepsy patients with a doctor's authorization.  Patients say the drug relieves chronic pain and nausea and improves appetite.  Abroad, tolerance for marijuana has been gaining political support as well.  This month, a Canadian Senate panel urged the drug's legalization and government-regulated production and sale to any citizen over the age of 16.  In the spring, the British government made possession of marijuana an offense not subject to arrest. Several Australian states are also considering decriminalization.  Contrary to this trend, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy recently made marijuana one of the major targets of the war on drugs by launching a $48 million, three-month, anti-pot media campaign.  Earlier this month, armed Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided a 167-plant medical pot farm in Santa Cruz, Calif., that operated with state authorities' knowledge.  A few days later, local activists backed by the Santa Cruz City Council protested the raid by openly distributing marijuana near City Hall to terminally ill patients.  The nation's drug czar, John Walters, calls ideas to sanction pot a "dangerous mirage." Removing penalties and making the drug cheaper will make it more accessible and inevitably increase demand, he said.  "I am going to every state which has plans to legalize marijuana, and we are going to push back against it," Walters said at a recent news conference.  The White House drug office doubts that Nevada will pass the initiative, but if it does, federal drug enforcement agencies will keep prosecuting marijuana trafficking. Note: Effort to loosen drug laws widens despite resistance from feds. Snipped:Complete Article: http://www.detnews.com/2002/nation/0209/29/a12-599640.htmSource: Detroit News (MI)Author: Svetlana Kolchik, Gannett News ServicePublished: Sunday, September 29, 2002Copyright: 2002 The Detroit News Contact: letters detnews.com Website: http://www.detnews.com/ Related Articles & Web Sites:NRLEhttp://www.nrle.org/Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/Question 9 Opponents Rally Against Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14278.shtmlAmsterdam of the Westhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14268.shtmlOne Puff At A Time - Economist UKhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14262.shtmlDiscussion About Pot Initiative Becomes Heated http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14259.shtml
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Comment #4 posted by delariand on September 30, 2002 at 10:06:50 PT
What an ass
"'I am going to every state which has plans to legalize marijuana, and we are going to push back against it,' Walters said at a recent news conference"Translation: I am going to illegaly use taxpayer funds and the power of the federal government to usurp democracy to my own ends.We're all up in arms about corporate corruption, when's the government corruption going to hit the fan?
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Comment #3 posted by pokesmotter on September 29, 2002 at 17:03:27 PT:
bumper sticker idea
DARE: Dare Ain't Really Effective
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Comment #2 posted by Dankhank on September 29, 2002 at 15:38:43 PT
rest of the story
Still, "it's very science-fiction-like that the state will start distributing marijuana," said Tom Riley, the Office of National Drug Control Policy spokesman. 
  Such skepticism doesn't deter Billy Rogers, campaign manager for Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement, which supports marijuana legalization. 
  Polls show public opinion on Nevada's initiative is sharply divided. 
  The leader of one of Nevada's biggest police unions who at first said the state's law enforcement unanimously endorses the idea resigned a week later. 
  Even so, Rogers believes that Nevada, the first state in the country to allow casino gambling and the only one to allow prostitution, will give a green light to marijuana as well. 
  "The initiative will protect responsible people in the privacy of their homes," Rogers said, stressing that the proposal prohibits drug use in public. 
  Last year, more than 3,700 people were arrested in Nevada for possession of small amounts of marijuana, Rogers said. The arrests, he estimates, took law enforcement agents more than 10,000 hours. 
  "This time could have been spent protecting our children from violent criminals and kidnappers," Rogers said. 
  The 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, a study of 70,000 people conducted annually by the Department of Health and Human Services, shows that marijuana is the most popular illegal drug, and the rate of its use is climbing. 
  As many as 2.4 million Americans used marijuana for the first time in 2000, including 1.6 million between the ages of 12 and 17. That's almost twice as many as a decade ago. 
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Comment #1 posted by p4me on September 29, 2002 at 15:02:40 PT
Valerie and Nevada think alike- The ? is why.
I think Valerie and Nevada ask themselves the same question over and over. Like, "Prohibition- Why?" already. "Question 9- Why not?" It makes sense to me.Get two free card-size sticker of "Prohibition-Why" and "Don't abuse drugs" with a small notation that P4me wants a Freedom of Medal Award if Nancy Reagan got one for "Just Say No", then P4me should get 2. Nancy Reagan had everyone going in the wrong direction and P4me at least says Stop. OK, maybe 2 is asking 2 much. I"ll settle for one if I can get it before Christmas.Say at once, P4me- DAD- P4me links the slogan to end cannabis prohibition and a new outlook towards drug-abuse in America. BSA#1 is assigned to the following words- "Don't Abuse Drugs- DAD". I could not but help announce it as it has one me yet another award in the BS business. I have won the overall honor of best Bumper Sticker from BS Magazine. P4me has hit the big times. "Don't Feed The Yellow Parrots" being selected best in the Chant category.
Chant it now with my favorite alternate line "Don't buy the lies" See me by my pen name of Virgil Art Johnston at LB&O.sux as I tell my story. Sorry to interupt your brainwashing where applicable. Otherwise, I guess Hang Them All.1,2
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