cannabisnews.com: Nevada Voters To Gamble on Legalizing Pot





Nevada Voters To Gamble on Legalizing Pot
Posted by CN Staff on October 04, 2002 at 14:54:27 PT
Nevada will decide whether to legalize marijuana
Source: Reuters 
Famously freewheeling Nevada, home to legal brothels, grocery store slot machines and some of the fanciest casinos on earth, may break another vice barrier this November when voters decide whether to make it the first state in the nation to legalize marijuana. A trail-blazing initiative appearing on the state ballot asks the public to decriminalize possession of less than 3 ounces of cannabis for people over 21 and to require state legislators to devise a regulatory system for its production and sale. 
Under Nevada law, even if the measure passes in November, it would have to be approved by voters again in 2004 to become a constitutional amendment. But proponents are hopeful the measure will pass, marking a startling break from federal drug laws that bar all marijuana possession. The petition effort that placed the initiative on the ballot garnered more than 109,000 signatures or nearly double the required number. A September 26 poll by the NBC affiliate in Las Vegas showed a majority of voters supporting the measure, with 55 percent in favor and 43 percent opposed. In addition, the group promoting the constitutional change, Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement, or NRLE, is flush with money -- it has almost $500,000 on hand -- and has run TV ads since September 12. Opponents, who waited until September 27 to officially form Nevadans Against Legalizing Marijuana, may not even have money for mailers, according to the group's members. A 'grass-roots' fight "The bottom line is that this is going to take a lot of talking and a lot of shoe leather," said Sandy Heverly, executive director of the anti-drunk driving group Stop DUI, one of the groups opposing the measure. "It's going to be a real grass-roots effort, no pun intended." Heverly is appalled that the largest newspaper in the state, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, endorsed the measure as a means to "bring compassion and common sense to drug laws" and that Republican Gov. Kenny Guinn won't take sides. The measure would decriminalize possession of less than three ounces of marijuana.  But even if the measure passes, federal agents will still investigate and bust drug sellers, so anyone who sells marijuana -- even under a state law permitting it -- would remain in jeopardy under federal law, according to Tom Riley, spokesman for the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Pro-marijuana activists acknowledge that they targeted Nevada because it is a small state with a libertarian bent where voters amended the constitution through votes in 1998 and 2000 to legalize medical marijuana. "This is about responsible adults using marijuana in the privacy of their homes as well as guaranteed legal access to medical marijuana because right now, patients still have to buy it from drug dealers in order to get it," said Billy Rogers, a Texan sent to Nevada to run the NRLE campaign. But opponents don't view 3 ounces as a small amount. That's enough for 250 marijuana cigarettes and more than what a person would have for their personal use, they say. They're also outraged by what they see as an invasion of the state by an outside activist group that now has 50 paid campaign workers here. Heverly and others argue that the initiative as worded could invalidate current intoxicated driving laws regarding marijuana, raise auto insurance rates for everyone and turn Nevada into a haven for pot smokers. "All Nevada is going to do is look stupid and foolish," said Gary Booker, a prosecutor in Clark County, which includes Las Vegas. "It would be like enacting a constitutional amendment that legalizes slavery. It's illegal and it will still be illegal." Nevada law already lenient Booker insisted that few people are convicted in America solely for low-level marijuana possession. He said most of those who are arrested are accused of other crimes, but plead down to a conviction on just the marijuana charge. And he noted that Nevada's law is already lenient. Possession of less than an ounce of marijuana is a misdemeanor for which an offender must pay a $600 fine, and possession of between 1 ounce and 100 pounds is a felony that carries a mandatory probation sentence for the first two offenses. Many Democrats believe that the marijuana question, which is expected to draw liberal voters to the polls, could help them in other races this fall. And some Sin City businesses are positively high on the prospect of legal pot -- which they see as offering yet another attraction for a city that already boasts casino versions of New York, Paris and ancient Egypt. "There are unlimited tourism possibilities," gushed Terry Wilsey of A Answer on Travel. "Las Vegas could become the American Amsterdam." Source: Reuters Published: Friday, October 4, 2002Copyright: 2002 Reuters Related Articles & Web Sites:NRLEhttp://www.nrle.org/Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/Where I Stand -- No on Q9 = Common Sensehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14350.shtmlGot Pot? - Reno News & Review http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14343.shtmlLeaders Emerge in Nevada for, Against Pothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14270.shtml 
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Comment #9 posted by p4me on October 05, 2002 at 05:24:48 PT
Should the DARE program continue poll
The link is in comment7. It is now 2806 to 3371 with the discontinue % at 55.1.All they need is "Don't Abuse Drugs- DAD" bumperstickers which will set everyone on a true course.DAD-D,1,2
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on October 04, 2002 at 23:00:16 PT
Days 1 thru 6 of Doonesbury on Medical Marijuana
Doonesbury: http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/db.htm
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Comment #7 posted by whatever on October 04, 2002 at 22:27:04 PT
should D.A.R.E be continued?
the poll posted by someone here at http://www.dream-tools.com/tools/pollquestion.mv?viewrealhtml+darepoll
is currently at 54.4% NO and 46/6% yes. I posted the link at some anti-wod sites and they went nuts with it. LOL!
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Comment #6 posted by afterburner on October 04, 2002 at 21:50:54 PT:
LTE's: keep up the battle
Look at the tripe that is actually being published as LTE's in the mass media. Keep bombarding them with the truth. This stuff is just junior-DEA propaganda. Marijuana for adults and sick people.
CN AB: LTE: Taxing Pot Not Solution
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Comment #5 posted by legalizeit on October 04, 2002 at 21:37:34 PT
Paul Harvey
...had a small blurb in his News & Comment about Q9. He said, "It isn't a given. Las vegas has more churches than casinos."My thought: So what? Just because someone goes to church or a church exists doesn't necessarily mean the person or church is anti-MJ. After all, as is often pointed out on C-News, cannabis is a natural plant, and therefore is a part of Nature, and God/Allah/Jesus/YHWH/Vishnu/etc. should be thanked for it! The main anti-pot drive from churches comes from the do-diddly-gooder fundies who blast pot as some sort of devil weed that is choking their neighborhood.I am a semi-regular Paul Harvey listener, and at times he has actually seemed to be slightly on the pro-pot side. But, like many, he is not consistent on the issue.As for Gary Booker - Why doesn't he just crawl back in his hole, smoke a cigarette and drink his whiskey? Why does the media give this crackpot so many soundbites? Now he is comparing Q9 to "legalizing slavery." I fail to see even the slightest shred of relevance linking the two. He is just another desperate drug warrior tring to scare the Sheeple by saying menacing words related to Q9 and hoping they will bleat with approval. It is not surprising that the subject of slavery would be brought up by a man who follows in the footsteps of the racist slime of the '30s!
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Comment #4 posted by MikeEEEEE on October 04, 2002 at 20:19:19 PT
mayan
You wrote: That is pretty amazing Dan B! The U.S. isn't trusted by many these days.
 That's interesting because I recently met a british woman visiting here on vacation. She and many Europeans hate Bush, and they can't understand how the American people elected him.
 The word superpower could be another name for empire.
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Comment #3 posted by mayan on October 04, 2002 at 18:26:00 PT
THE VOTE
"Many Democrats believe that the marijuana question, which is expected to draw liberal voters to the polls, could help them in other races this fall."If Question 9 does help the Democrats in other races, it will be the vote heard around the country! Maybe this is the vote that will turn the tables on the political correctness of cannabis(or at least the politician's perception therof!). That is pretty amazing Dan B! The U.S. isn't trusted by many these days.unrrelated -Banks, Oil, and Drug Trafficking: An Overview of Mike Ruppert's "The Truth and Lies of 9-11" 
http://www.bankindex.com/read.asp?ID=1275Controlled Demolition At WTC - New Revelations:
http://rense.com/general30/cont.htmThe coming military draft:
http://onlinejournal.com/Commentary/LThomas100302/lthomas100302.htmlALTERNATIVE MEDIA CENSORSHIP: SPONSORED BY CIA's FORD FOUNDATION?
http://www.questionsquestions.net/gatekeepers.html
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Comment #2 posted by Dan B on October 04, 2002 at 17:48:22 PT:
Has anyone else seen this?
Check out this site:http://www.hogerhand.nl/english/home.htmlIt appears that at least some people in the Netherlands are preparing for an invasion by the United States. I don't know a lot about it, but I thought this item would be of interest to many people here at Cannabis News.If you know more about it, please feel free to email me (click my name above to link to my email address) if you feel it is inappropriate to post a comment on it here.Thanks.Dan B
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Comment #1 posted by The GCW on October 04, 2002 at 15:52:52 PT
A trail-blazing initiative. 
It's as American as America.It is as Biblical as the very 1st page of the Bible, where cannabis is placed right up there with the heavens and earth...It is as gross as can be to cage a human for using cannabis.Those that support the concept of caging humans for using a plant are a discredited bunch. They are the problem, not cannabis. It takes a special person, to cage humans for using a plant.Prohibitionists = out of control vile urine suckers. Simple math.And YES, if You Re-legalize it, I will come. I will not come to give Your casinos My time or money. I will not come to screw Your pro's. I will come to feel safe simply enjoying what Our Father blessed Us with.Cannabis; kaneh bosm; pot; superplant; The Green; The Kahuna of the plant kingdom; and even marijuana, if You smile when You say it.The Green Collar Worker.
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