Nevada Finds Support

DdC · Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2006 11:35 am Post subject: Nevada Finds Support

Marijuana Possession: Arrest Statistics at Issue By Ed Vogel
CN Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal September 23, 2006 Carson City
Despite official records that show nearly 5,000 people were arrested in Nevada on marijuana possession charges last year, Las Vegas and Reno police say their departments give tickets to pot smokers and rarely book offenders in jail if their only offense is using the illegal drug. Las Vegas police Detective Todd Raybuck said this week that FBI crime reporting rules require police departments to list the citations they hand out for marijuana possession as arrests when they compile statistics.

Reefer Redux By Marshall Allen
CN Source: Las Vegas Sun September 22, 2006 Nevada
Although Nevada is known for normalizing alternative lifestyles, it has not been a kind place historically for pot smokers. In 2002 voters defeated an initiative to legalize marijuana for recreational use by a 61 percent to 39 percent margin. In November they'll experience an electoral flashback when they decide on a similar ballot measure that would provide adults with legal access to the mind-altering drug.

Ballot Initiative: Internal Poll Finds Support By Molly Ball
Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal September 22, 2006 Nevada
A ballot initiative to allow Nevadans to possess small amounts of marijuana for recreational use has a better chance of passing than most people think, according to a newly released internal poll conducted on behalf of the proposal's backers. In the new poll, respondents were read the actual text that will appear on their November ballots. Of the 600 likely Nevada voters interviewed statewide by a respected national polling firm, 49 percent said they would vote yes on the question and 43 percent said no.

Bill Bendit's Bad Bet: The Bookmaker of Virtues

Norm Stamper of LEAP

Norm Stamper in Vegas at Borders Books
Thursday, March 9, 2006 Lies in Nevada.

Do Prohibitionists Lie?
... Even when their lips aren't moving.

In Nevada, where there is an initiative to legalize marijuana, people are getting push poll automated phone calls with the following message:

There is a proposal to legalize marijuana.

This proposal will make marijuana available in grocery stores and convenience stores similar to buying a pack of cigarettes.

Do you support the proposal to legalize marijuana?

Please press 1 for yes, press 2 for no, and if you're undecided, please press 3.

So what does the initiative say? Could it perhaps be vague?

Sec. 21. 1. The Department may not issue a license as a retailer or wholesaler to an establishment: [...] (b) That is engaged in business as a gas station, convenience store, grocery store, night club, dance hall or licensed gaming establishment; [...]

Nope. An outright, intentional lie.
Despicable. Hope they find out who's behind the calls.
regulatemarijuana.org

The Case for Retooling American Law Enforcement
Mar 10 06 Crime Control vs. Civil Liberties:
Norm Stamper Las Vegas Nevada USA

Advisory Board member and speaker Norm Stamper has a discussion and book signing at Borders Bookstore, 2190 North Rainbow Boulevard. Sponsored by the Las Vegas Futurists.

Smoke Screens By Neal Levine
CN Source: Las Vegas City Life September 22, 2006 Nevada
John P. Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy -- our nation's so-called drug czar -- made appearances in Reno recently to attack Question 7, the initiative to tax and regulate marijuana. This is just the first round in the federal government's coordinated campaign to influence the voters of Nevada on a state issue. Many Nevadans will remember that then-Attorney General Brian Sandoval referred to the federal government's intervention in the 2002 marijuana initiative as "excessive" and "disturbing." In an official opinion, Sandoval stated it was "unfortunate that a representative of the federal government substantially intervened in a matter that was clearly a state of Nevada issue."

Nevada Conservatives Against the War on Drugs

Voters have been losing their taste for the war on drugs lately; in the past few years, states from Arizona and Alaska to California and Hawaii have moved toward making marijuana, in particular, a low priority for law enforcement, with first-offense possession cases often dismissed with small-time fines and medical-marijuana measures on the books in several states.

But the initiative voters in Nevada will be considering this fall goes much further:
The “tax and regulate” measure, whose supporters got it on the ballot by collecting 86,000 signatures, would allow anyone over 21 to possess up to one ounce for personal use, would set up a system of pot shops (at a specified distance from schools), and would tax marijuana in a manner comparable to alcohol.

Conservatives Argument for Legalization

**Mystic Power** · Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2006 3:56 pm Post subject:

From MPP.org

Cannabis ballot opponents in Nevada might go to jail

On Tuesday, between 40 and 50 supporters of the Marijuana Policy Project's initiative campaign in Nevada attended a county commission meeting in Las Vegas to protest the commission's nonbinding resolution opposing MPP's initiative. MPP Campaign Manager Neal Levine made a statement before the commission, explaining, "According to Nevada Revised Statutes 281.554, government officials and employees are prohibited from expending public funds, time, or resources to oppose or support a ballot question. This rule applies to the Clark County Commission." Visit http://www.regulatemarijuana.org/home/cc_speech to watch the confrontation.

Despite the clear legal precedent -- a Nevada Supreme Court decision in 2002 and a Nevada attorney general's opinion in 2004 -- that prevents public officials from weighing in on ballot questions, the commission's lawyer opined that the resolution debate could proceed. The commission then voted unanimously to oppose MPP's initiative, which would tax and regulate marijuana similarly to alcohol.

Following the commission's vote, the campaign filed a formal complaint with the state's attorney general, asking him to prosecute the county commissioners and other public officials -- like Clark County Sheriff Bill Young, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Detective Todd Raybuck, and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Lieutenant Stan Olsen -- who have spent taxpayer money to oppose MPP's initiative, which will be on the November 7 ballot. (Visit http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M720043927865864535187865&af=y to watch a short, 90-second animation video explaining the initiative.)

The possibility of sending the county commissioners, sheriffs, and police to jail for illegally campaigning while on the public dime has generated a tremendous amount of news coverage by diverse media outlets, including the ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC television stations in Las Vegas; the NBC and CBS television stations in Reno; and the Associated Press, the Las Vegas Sun, and the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Visit http://www.regulatemarijuana.org/home/news to view the ongoing media coverage of our campaign's fight for fairness.

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Follow Your Bliss,
Ben
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