cannabisnews.com: Legal Pot Petition Sees Ray of Hope 





Legal Pot Petition Sees Ray of Hope 
Posted by CN Staff on August 02, 2004 at 11:48:12 PT
By Cy Ryan, Sun Capital Bureau 
Source: Las Vegas Sun 
Carson City -- U.S. District Judge James Mahan issued a temporary restraining order Friday stopping the state from taking any further action on the marijuana initiative petition that is short of the necessary signatures needed to qualify for the ballot.Mahan has set Aug. 13 as the date for oral arguments on the suit by the Nevada chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and the groups supporting the petition to allow adults to possess and use one ounce of marijuana.
Allen Lichtenstein, the Las Vegas lawyer for the ACLU, said the judge wanted to keep the status quo and said the temporary restraining order prevents any more action by Secretary of State Dean Heller that might disqualify the petition.The group wants the judge to order Heller to put the issue on the November ballot."This is a really good sign," said Jennifer Knight, spokeswoman for the Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana. "The fact that this judge issued a temporary restraining order in our case means that it has merit."In the meantime, the committee is continuing its campaign, including television ads and meeting with community groups."We're planning for success," Knight said.Renee Parker, chief deputy secretary of state, said keeping the status quo means the petition still failed to qualify. She said the initiative has 50,088 valid signatures and needs 51,337 to qualify for the ballot.Parker said the secretary of state's office followed the orders of District Judge Bill Maddox of Carson City who ruled that signatures on petitions which did not contain the affidavit signed by a registered voter must be counted. In the case of the marijuana petition, slightly more than 15,000 signatures were added after the ruling.The decision by Maddox was delivered in reference to the petitions to raise the minimum wage and to prevent frivolous suits. Parker said the office then applied the ruling to the marijuana petition but it still came up short.Heller said he is going to appeal the Maddox ruling to the Nevada Supreme Court.The suit by the ACLU, the Marijuana Policy Project and the Committee to regulate and Control Marijuana, challenges a section in the Nevada Constitution that requires an initiative petition have 10 percent of the voters in 13 of the 17 counties to sign the documents.The suit also challenges the decision of Clark County Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax to exclude the signatures of those who registered to vote on the same day they signed the petition. That totaled 2,039 signatures.Parker said the petition only succeeded in 12 of the 17 counties. In Clark County petition supporters fell short of the required 31,350 names by about 4,500 signatures.Parker said she's "starting to wonder if we can pull it off" with all the lawsuits and challenges on the initiative petitions. "It's pretty scary," she said.The county clerks need to have the final language on the proposed constitutional questions by Sept. 1 to get the absentee and sample ballots printed for the general election.On the marijuana issue, she said there is no committee yet to write the pros and cons on the ballot question. Arguments before Judge James Mahan are scheduled for Aug. 13, she said. The state Attorney General's Office Friday filed a motion with the Nevada Supreme Court for an expedited handling of the appeal on the ruling of the District Court to put the minimum wage and the frivolous law suit initiatives on the ballot.Sun reporter Kirsten Searer contributed to this story.Note: Judge's order means initiative may make ballot.Source: Las Vegas Sun (NV)Author:  Cy Ryan, Sun Capital Bureau Published: August 02, 2004Copyright: 2004 Las Vegas Sun Inc.Contact: letters lasvegassun.comWebsite: http://www.lasvegassun.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:ACLUhttp://www.aclu.org/Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/Backers of Pot Petition File Suit http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19241.shtmlACLU Sues, Tries To Save Initiative http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19240.shtmlInitiative To Make Pot Legal May Be Doomedhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19158.shtmlMJ Initiative Backers Forgot 6,000 Signatures http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19055.shtml
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Comment #7 posted by Richard Paul Zuckerm on August 03, 2004 at 16:56:28 PT:
IF THEY WOULD HAVE TURNED IN THE PETITIONS!
If that knucklehead would have done his job and turned in all of the petitions, then we would not be fretting and litigating this matter!
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on August 02, 2004 at 19:05:50 PT
mayan
I tried to get the video to play but it wouldn't. I use Windows Media Player. I'll try again later. I'd like to see it. I like Will Ferrell.
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Comment #5 posted by mayan on August 02, 2004 at 17:23:32 PT
unrelated...
Sorry, but you've got to see this video of Will Ferrell as president bush...http://whitehousewest.com/
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Comment #4 posted by mayan on August 02, 2004 at 17:19:30 PT
Let Voters Decide!
The suit also challenges the decision of Clark County Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax to exclude the signatures of those who registered to vote on the same day they signed the petition. That totaled 2,039 signatures.If these signatures are counted then the initiative will qualify for the ballot! Who do these bozos think they are trying to stifle democracy? Let the voters decide!The way out is the way in...9/11 - Inside Job:
http://www.911sharethetruth.com/The 9/11 Commission Report is a Fraud:
http://www.ny911truth.org/articles/reportop.htmStatement from FAA Contradicts 9/11 Report:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/archive/scoop/stories/15/e7/200408021624.e2a6c42a.htmlSenator Dayton: NORAD Lied About 9/11
http://www.911truth.org/article.php?story=20040731213239607Letter to Thomas Kean from Sibel Edmonds:
http://www.911citizenswatch.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=373&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
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Comment #3 posted by elfman_420 on August 02, 2004 at 16:52:43 PT
Drug Sniffing Dogs = Animal Cruelty ?!
LONDON (Reuters) - A police sniffer dog died of a suspected overdose while out hunting for drugs, British police said on Monday.Todd, a 7-year-old Springer spaniel, had been looking for drugs in a field and car in Preston, northern England, when his handler noticed he was looking unwell.He was taken to a vet and then rushed to an animal intensive care unit at Liverpool University, displaying symptoms of ingesting amphetamines, a Lancashire police spokeswoman said.He died shortly afterwards.The death was said to have devastated Todd's handler, Police Constable Roger Moore, his wife and two young children."He (Todd) lived with them and they would all go for walks with him -- he was their dog," Sergeant Peter Crane of Preston's dog unit told the Daily Mirror."He's going to be very difficult to replace, but police work is dangerous and unfortunately Todd has become a casualty."Police said a post mortem on Todd was being carried out. 
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Comment #2 posted by billos on August 02, 2004 at 15:48:52 PT
Congress fails America...........................
is what the scuttlebut is now.When Congress fails us and continues to oppress us, what the hell is that?
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Comment #1 posted by The GCW on August 02, 2004 at 12:39:02 PT
"...pros and cons on the ballot question..."&
It is time to stop persecuting and caging humans that choose to use the plant cannabis.There is no good reason to perpetuate this Biblical evil any longer.Only evil reasons.
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