cannabisnews.com: Nevada Joins Trends





Nevada Joins Trends
Posted by FoM on November 12, 2000 at 06:23:50 PT
Editorial
Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal
Nevada voters closely adhered to national trends as they voted last week to allow the medical use of marijuana, but also to restrict state-sanctioned marriage to couples made up of a man and a woman. As amendments to the Nevada constitution, both provisions have to be OK'd by the voters in two successive elections. This marked the second OK for the Nevada marijuana measure, which sailed to approval by a 2-to-1 margin. 
The same-sex marriage ban -- which piled up even more impressive 69 percent support -- must win voter approval again in 2002. Generally -- though Alaskans turned down a chance to make the plant completely legal -- state and federal laws against pot didn't stop a number of states from voting to permit its compassionate, medical use under certain circumstances. In Mendocino County, Calif., 115 miles north of San Francisco, voters OK'd a measure that allows residents to grow as many as 25 pot plants apiece. The measure faced no organized opposition. Voters in Colorado also OK'd a measure permitting doctors to prescribe marijuana for the seriously ill, 53-47. In the past four years, similar medical-marijuana measures have become law in California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Maine and Hawaii. The gay-marriage ban was actually more controversial, with opponents contending it could limit the ability of same-sex couples to name each other as beneficiaries in insurance policies, make hospital care decisions or even visit their loved ones in the case of serious illness -- while proponents argued it will do no such thing, but merely prevents same-sex couples married in foreign jurisdictions from gaining special rights and privileges in Nevada. Lest we be accused of overt neutrality, the marriage ban is unnecessary. However, Nevada's majority hardly stood alone on the issue. A similar measure also passed handily in Nebraska, while The Associated Press reports voters also "rejected civil rights protection for Maine's gays and lesbians." Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal (NV)Published: Sunday, November 12, 2000Copyright: Las Vegas Review-Journal, 2000Address: P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125Fax: (702)383-4676Contact: letters lvrj.comWebsite: http://www.lvrj.com/Forum: http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/feedback/Related Articles: 2 Issues Show Flip Sides of Nevada Politics http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7596.shtmlNevada Voters: Question Unlikely To Influence Racehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7498.shtmlPoll Show Nevada Voters Likely To OK Marijuana Use http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7226.shtml
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