[I.M. Boggled]

Newspaper Endorses Nevada Pot Initiative
Associated Press
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
(AP) --

A newspaper in rural northern Nevada has given a surprising endorsement to a ballot measure to decriminalize adult possession of limited amounts of marijuana through regulation and taxation.

"In a state where prostitution is legal in certain counties, bars are not required to close and children can legally possess and use tobacco, objections to marijuana legalization on a moral basis seem hypocritical," the Lahontan Valley News and Fallon Eagle Standard said in a Tuesday editorial.

"Those who view marijuana as a blight on society have yet to offer an effective solution of how to stop its spread through society or better fund law enforcement.
Continuation of the ill-funded, halfhearted campaigns of the past is little more than veiled acceptance of its current widespread and illegal use."

State Sen. Mike McGinness, R-Fallon, said he was surprised by newspaper's support for the Nov. 7 ballot question.

"It surprised me that a rural newspaper would do that," he said, noting northern Nevada's typical conservative political leanings.

But Eric Herzik, a political science professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, said rural Nevada often shows its independent backbone.

"I wouldn't have predicted it, but it's not one where I'm shocked," he said.

"Rural Nevada, while often thought to be conservative, is often more libertarian. They don't like government intervention," Herzik said.

"They're not endorsing the use of marijuana, but instead saying 'Why don't we treat this as we do many other vices in Nevada' — which is to accept them," Herzik said.

Nevada voters approved a constitutional amendment allowing marijuana use for medical purposes in 1998 and 2000.
Two years later, they rejected efforts by national advocates to allow adult possession of up to 3 ounces for non-medical use.

The latest proposal would allow adults to possession up to 1 ounce.


URL: https://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg...n150925D18.DTL

[I.M. Boggled]

About the Initiative
https://www.regulatemarijuana.org/home/about

If passed by a majority of Nevada voters, the initiative would:

1. eliminate the threat of arrest and jail for adults aged 21 and older who responsibly use and possess up to one ounce of marijuana (which is the equivalent of one-and-a-half packs of cigarettes);

2. regulate the manufacture, taxation, and sale of marijuana, whereby establishments that are licensed to sell tobacco will also be permitted to sell marijuana, provided that they neither sell alcohol nor are within 500 feet of a school or place of worship. Gas stations, convenience stores, grocery stores, casinos, and dance halls would also be prohibited from selling marijuana.

3. earmark half of marijuana-related licensing fees and tax revenues to alcohol and drug treatment and education, with the other half going to the state's general fund;

4. maintain penalties for underage marijuana use, smoking marijuana in public, using or possessing marijuana on school grounds or in prisons, and transporting marijuana across state lines;

5. increase penalties for providing marijuana to minors, as well as for motorists who kill someone while under the influence of alcohol, marijuana, or any other substance; and

6. take effect on November 28, 2006, if a majority of Nevada voters pass the initiative in November 2006.

This initiative would benefit Nevadans in numerous ways.
It would:

* Allow police to focus on serious crimes. By removing marijuana from the criminal market, the initiative would free up police time so police officers can focus on violent crimes, property crimes, and people who drive under the influence of alcohol, marijuana, or any other substance. According to the latest FBI statistics, Nevada's violent-crime rate is 7th highest among the 50 states.

* Generate tax revenues for drug education and treatment. The initiative requires that adults who use marijuana legally in the privacy of their homes must obtain their marijuana from legally regulated businesses, thereby generating tax revenues for the state rather than profits for drug dealers. According to a study released by the University of Nevada at Las Vegas in 2002, regulating marijuana would generate $28 million in annual tax revenues. (You can download the study here.) The initiative would earmark half of this money for drug education and rehabilitation programs, which currently receive only $13.5 million annually from the state.

* Make the roads safer. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the number of alcohol-related auto fatalities in Nevada rose 29% from 2001 to 2002. And 45% of car-crash deaths in Nevada were alcohol-related -- the 10th highest rate in the nation. By liberating the police from having to hunt down marijuana users, the initiative would allow police to spend more time on the roadways to intercept and arrest dangerous drivers, whether they are under the influence of marijuana, alcohol, or any other substance. And, if a motorist kills someone while under the influence of marijuana or any other substance, the initiative doubles the maximum fine and prison sentence for people convicted of such offenses.

Nevada's current marijuana laws are costly, they have failed to prevent teenagers from using marijuana, and they keep police from focusing on DUI and other real crimes.
Bringing marijuana into a regulated system will serve all Nevadans well.

[I.M. Boggled]

Frequently Asked Questions About Nevada’s Marijuana Initiative


Why should I vote for the marijuana initiative this November?

Our initiative provides a sensible alternative to Nevada's current marijuana laws, which do not work.
Why do we say our laws don't work?
Because anybody who wants to use marijuana currently is.
What we're proposing is removing marijuana from the criminal market -- where it finances the activities of violent gangs and drug dealers -- and putting marijuana into a tightly regulated and controlled market, where we can tax it and place sensible safeguards on its sale.

Drug dealers don't card,
but once this initiative becomes law, everyone who sells marijuana will.


What does the initiative do?

The initiative would allow for the possession and sale of up to one ounce of marijuana by adults ages 21 and older in the state of Nevada.
By removing marijuana from the criminal market, the initiative takes money out of the hands of violent gangs and drug dealers and taxes it.
Half of the tax money would fund state-sponsored alcohol and drug treatment, while the other half would be earmarked for the general fund, where it can be used for education, fixing the roads, and other expenses the state faces.

The initiative institutes reasonable safeguards on who may purchase marijuana and how marijuana is sold:
Only state-licensed shops will be able to sell marijuana.
The shops cannot be located within 500 feet of a school or house of worship. No place that sells alcohol will be allowed to sell marijuana -- nor would gas stations, convenience stores, grocery stores, casinos, or dance halls, and you’d have to be 21 years of age or older and show valid ID to even enter a shop.
Finally, the initiative doubles the penalties for giving or selling marijuana to a minor, and it doubles the maximum penalties for killing someone while driving under the influence of marijuana, alcohol, or any other drug.


Is this initiative for medical marijuana?

No, this initiative is about taking the sale of small amounts of marijuana to adults out of the hands of violent gangs and drug dealers and putting it into a tightly regulated market. However, even though the state allows patients to possess marijuana, it does not provide a legal and safe way for patients to obtain it.

Although the initiative is not specifically geared toward patients, it will give them a safe way to obtain a consistent supply of their medicine by setting up a regulated system of state-licensed marijuana retail shops. Currently, state-registered medical marijuana patients are forced to resort to the criminal market to obtain their medicine.


Will the initiative increase teen access to marijuana or send the wrong message to children?

That’s a reasonable concern. But this initiative does not make it easier for teens to get marijuana, and it does not send the wrong message to children. It’s a fact that our current laws don’t work. Right now, anyone who wants marijuana can get it -- no matter how young they are. Under the current system of prohibition, 86% of high school seniors admit to the federal government that they find marijuana easy to obtain. Here in Nevada, nearly 58% of high school seniors admit to having used marijuana, and 26% admit to using it habitually.

Under our initiative, we'll know who is selling marijuana and whom they’re selling it to. You’d have to be an adult aged 21 or older with a valid ID to even enter retail establishments that sell marijuana. Also, our initiative would prohibit any establishment from being within 500 feet of a school -- and it doubles the penalty for giving or selling marijuana to a minor. The state of Nevada has undeniably succeeded in reducing teen smoking through the We Card program. There is no reason to think that a similar -- and even more restrictive -- program for marijuana would not have similar success. Drug dealers don’t card.


Won’t this initiative mean more stoned drivers on the road?

Anybody who wants to use marijuana is already doing so because our current laws are a complete failure. It’s silly to believe that someone who isn’t using marijuana because it’s illegal would suddenly start smoking marijuana once the initiative passes and then ignore the DUI laws. However, if someone is reckless enough to get behind the wheel intoxicated, our initiative punishes that person by doubling the current penalties for killing someone while driving under the influence of marijuana, alcohol, or any other drug. Our campaign is completely opposed to anyone who drives intoxicated, and we believe they should be severely punished if they do.


Is the driving-under-the-influence provision too strict?

Our initiative increases the maximum penalty only for people who kill someone while driving under the influence. It does not increase the minimum penalty. We firmly believe that anyone who drives under the influence of marijuana, alcohol, or any other drug should be punished. And anyone who kills someone while driving impaired should be punished severely.


Won't this initiative make it illegal to drive if you've used marijuana within the past 30 days?

No. The initiative does not create a law that criminalizes sober drivers. Unfortunately, that law is already on the books in Nevada. Our initiative cannot fix every bad law in the state. But we hope that the initiative will bring attention to this law and that the legislature will pass a law that accurately measures marijuana intoxication.


Is marijuana a gateway to harder drugs?

The gateway theory is just a myth made up by prohibitionists to justify making something illegal that is less harmful than alcohol. According to a recent study commissioned by the British Parliament, “the gateway theory has little evidence to support it despite copious research.” According the Institute of Medicine (in a report commissioned by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy), “There is no evidence that marijuana serves as a stepping stone [to other drugs] on the basis of its particular physiological effect.” To put it simply, if you ask hard drug users if they’ve used marijuana, it’s not surprising that they have. But the vast majority of marijuana users do not move on to use hard drugs. Otherwise, we would have nearly 100 million people in this country who use hard drugs.


Won’t this initiative allow people to have too much marijuana?

The initiative allows the sale and possession of only a small amount of marijuana -- limited to no more than an ounce, the same amount patients are allowed to possess under Nevada’s medical marijuana law. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the government agency that supplies marijuana to federally approved medical marijuana patients, one ounce equals roughly 31 marijuana cigarettes -- or the equivalent of a pack-and-a-half of tobacco cigarettes.


Where will the marijuana stores be located?

Our initiative contains sensible safeguards that restrict who can buy marijuana, who can sell it, and where they can sell it. Only state-licensed shops will be able to sell marijuana, and they cannot be located within 500 feet of a school or house of worship. Also, no place that sells alcohol will be allowed to sell marijuana -- nor would gas stations, convenience stores, grocery stores, casinos, or dance halls. Finally, you’d have to be an adult aged 21 or older with a valid ID to even enter a marijuana store. This is a vast improvement over our current marijuana laws, which have created a violent criminal market where drug dealers sell marijuana wherever they want, to whomever they want.


If the initiative passes, won’t the feds just come in and shut it down?


It is within Nevada’s power to pass this law. Back when Nevada’s medical marijuana initiative was on the ballot, federal authorities threatened to shut it down if it passed. It’s been in effect now for over five years, and these threats never materialized. In an age when the federal government cannot manage to inspect even five percent of containers coming into this country or adequately respond to a hurricane, one would hope they have better things to do than prosecute Nevadans who are abiding by state law.

https://www.regulatemarijuana.org/home/faq

[HotCha]

what happens to homegrowers in this situation? did i miss that part?

[resinryder]

It would/will still be illegal to grow your own unless you have the med license from the state allowing it.

[HotCha]

so where does all of the now legal grass come from if this thing passes?

[Wacky Tobacky]

ya this doesnt answer the question about growing it.

[rsteeb]

"...cannot be located within 500 feet of a school or house of worship"

Temple 420 is gonna HATE it!

[Maj.PotHead]

nev has med MJ https://www.norml.org/index.cfm?wtm_view=&Group_ID=4550 heres the states laws. would be nice but this state is fighting real bad to legalize it. as of now NV has no med mj despenserys no canibis clubs or such but they can ppl if they find a DR to write a script have a script for med mj, but the state refusses to set up supply locations ie canibis clubs for the med patientants to get the script filled. :( theres a guy in vegas forgot his name he was cought w/30 lb's and 120 plants his claim is he was only supplying the med mj ppl because there isnt any where to fill the script.

[wescyber]

This initiative would allow farmers to apply to the state for a license to commercially grow and supply legal marijuana outlets. So if it passes the first person to get approved and start growing will be the first supplier. I guessing the first retail establishment will be up no longer then 2 months after the initiative passes. I for know if it does pass, winnemucca here I come.

-wes