Nevada state wide one ounce cannabis legalization on the ballet

MARIJUANA CAMPAIGN STARTED
:rasta:
08 Feb 2006

Nevada
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Legalization Backers Urge Voters to Support Proposal on November Ballot

The Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana opened its office in Las Vegas on Monday, officially kicking off its second statewide campaign to legalize possession of the weed by adults.

The group's goal is to get voters to approve a measure in November that would legalize possession of up to one ounce of pot for anyone 21 and older in Nevada.

"This will put it into a tightly regulated tax and control market for people who want to buy it," said Neal Levine, campaign manager. "It's taking it out of the schoolyards and putting it underneath the watchful eye of state government."

About 15 volunteers and staffers make up the Nevada campaign committee affiliated with the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington D.C., attended. Several of them said Tuesday that they believe Nevadans ultimately will agree that regulation of marijuana is a safer alternative than forcing users to drug dealers.

"I'm not in favor of cocaine or coke or -- God! methamphetamine, it's terrible -- but cannabis has been around for thousands of years," said 45-year-old Jack Roberto, one of those who will be working on behalf of the legalization effort.

So far, members of the group said, they're finding supporters at Las Vegas' First Friday arts festival and at college campuses.

If voters approve the measure, the state Department of Taxation would then set up a system to issue licenses to marijuana farms and businesses to sell the drug.

The initiative also would double the maximum penalty for vehicular manslaughter while under the influence of alcohol, marijuana or any drug and would double the penalty for giving or selling marijuana to a minor. Advertisements on the sale of legal marijuana would be illegal, and distributors would not be allowed to sell pot within 500 feet of schools or places of worship.

The language differs from a ballot initiative that failed in 2002 with only 39 percent of the vote. That initiative would have legalized three ounces.

"We've been working on this initiative now going on five years. We crafted it in a way we think appeals to all Nevadans," Levine said.

It doesn't appeal to Las Vegas Detective David Kallas, executive director of the Las Vegas Police Protective Association.

"Any form of legalized marijuana provides no benefit to our community," he said.

Legalizing even small amounts will make the drug more accessible to Las Vegans and their children, he said.

He recalled several years ago he noticed a vehicle driving in a commercial parking lot early in the morning. When he stopped the car, he said he found marijuana, cocaine and fraudulent IDs. The car in which they were located was also stolen, he said.

"You could interview any street officer, it occurs fairly regularly, you find an individual who is committing some form of crime and marijuana or some other form of drug is involved," Kallas said.

Officers have no immediate plans to mobilize against the committee, he said, noting the funeral Tuesday of Sgt. Henry Prendes, who was shot and killed on duty last week.

"We've got enough problems in society now without adding the problem of legalizing marijuana that we know has the potential for abuse," he said.

But 38-year-old Susan Grosz, one of the campaign's volunteers, said legalizing possession of marijuana by responsible adults would prevent the needless arrest of many harmless pot smokers who pose no threat to anybody. She also said it could create a boon of tax revenue for the state. A 2002 UNLV study estimated legalization would bring $28.6 million a year into state coffers.

She brought her 5-year-old son to the grand opening of the office.

"They're still pretty young," she said of the children that were at the event.

"I don't advertise it ( marijuana ) to my child," she said, adding she's a good and protective mother.