nevada may legalize in 2006

[Rev.Holden Greene]

MPP won a huge victory in January, when a
federal judge ordered the Nevada government
to place MPP’s marijuana regulation initiative
on the November 2006 ballot. Th e initiative
would remove all penalties for the use and
possession of up to one ounce of marijuana
by adults aged 21 and older, as well as create
a system for the legal distribution and sale of
marijuana to adults. If enacted, this law would
be the fi rst of its kind in the world.
U.S. District Court Judge James Mahan said
Nevada Secretary of State Dean Heller followed
an unconstitutional procedure when he
rejected the initiative in December, ordering
him to immediately send the initiative to the
legislature when it convened on February 7.
Th e legislature was then required to consider
the proposal and either pass it into law themselves
(unamended) within 40 days or place it
on the November 2006 ballot (unamended) so
Nevadans can vote on it.
Th is is the fi rst time in history that a state
legislature has considered a proposal to tax
and regulate marijuana—and marks the end
of a lengthy court battle that began with MPP’s
2004 initiative.
In February 2004, MPP launched a campaign
to gather the 51,337 signatures required
to place the initiative on the November 2004
ballot. On June 15, MPP turned in 66,000 signatures,
54,000 of which MPP estimated were
valid. But Nevada elections offi cials claimed
that only 34,947 were valid. After MPP investigated
the discrepancy, it became clear that
Nevada’s elections offi cials were illegally keeping
the initiative off the ballot.

from there newsletter heres a link
http://www.mpp.org/mpr/spring2005.pdf
_________________
"look...the people you are looking for are the people you depend on.we cook your meals , we haul your trash ,we connect your calls, we drive your ambulances,we guard you while you sleep"

Tyler Durdan

[Ferre]

Ok guys, needless to say that we should all do what we can to support that propasal.


_________________
█ Please read the Board Rules and Posting, and you
█ Radio Free Amsterdam
People who know truth, speak truth.
Those who don't, quote scriptures.

[Ferre]

Ok guys, needless to say that we should all do what we can to support that propasal.


_________________
█ Please read the Board Rules and Posting, and you
█ Radio Free Amsterdam
People who know truth, speak truth.
Those who don't, quote scriptures.

[Rev.Holden Greene]

http://regulatemarijuana.org/home/

heres a link with tons more info on the innitiative
_________________
"look...the people you are looking for are the people you depend on.we cook your meals , we haul your trash ,we connect your calls, we drive your ambulances,we guard you while you sleep"

Tyler Durdan

[Mystic Power]

What the opposition fails to grasp is that we are never going away. Ever.

They, on the other hand....

I've always loved a particular scene in Ghandi:

BRITISH MAGISTRATE: You don't expect us to simply walk out of India, do you?

GHANDI: Yes. In the end, you will simply walk out of India.

Bliss,
Ben
_________________
"We are the Ones we have been waiting for."
~Hopi Elder ~

"In Lak'ech"
~ Ancient Mayan: "I am another YOU." ~

[Mystic Power]

What the opposition fails to grasp is that we are never going away. Ever.

They, on the other hand....

I've always loved a particular scene in Ghandi:

BRITISH MAGISTRATE: You don't expect us to simply walk out of India, do you?

GHANDI: Yes. In the end, you will simply walk out of India.

Bliss,
Ben
_________________
"We are the Ones we have been waiting for."
~Hopi Elder ~

"In Lak'ech"
~ Ancient Mayan: "I am another YOU." ~

[Echo]

Go Nevada!
_________________

[Rev.Holden Greene]

Carson City -- The leading drug use researcher in the Netherlands predicts there will be little change in Nevada drug use, particularly by teenagers, if citizens support the latest initiative to legalize marijuana.

"My personal view is that drug policies and the legal status of marijuana is not a very important indicator of the use levels of marijuana in a population," said Peter Cohen in a telephone interview from Amsterdam. "It would neither increase nor reduce levels. The determinants for marijuana use are complex. They have to do with fashion, culture and economics."

Since 1976, authorities in the Netherlands have tolerated the sale of small amounts of marijuana. Pot can be purchased in about 850 coffee houses. The houses hold an annual Cannabis Cup competition to determine who grows the finest marijuana in the world.

In numerous writings and speeches over the years, Cohen has emphasized that marijuana use has ebbed and flowed with social events, such as the Vietnam anti-war movement.

He and others contend many teenagers try marijuana out of peer pressure and youthful rebellion, smoke for a few years and then quit.

Their research has found the actual number of regular marijuana users is about 2.5 percent of the Netherlands' population over age 12, compared with 5 percent in the United States.

Although Americans use marijuana and harder drugs at much higher percentages than people in the Netherlands, Europeans use alcohol and tobacco more frequently than Americans, according to studies.

"Alcohol use patterns vary tremendously between countries, periods and cultures, even with similar access rules," as does marijuana use, according to Cohen.

He added that arguments that laws will control the flow of marijuana are "very useful for politicians," but have little to do with the actual use of the drug.

Cohen's view, that legalization minimally impacts usage rates, is at odds with arguments being advanced in Nevada by supporters and opponents of the new marijuana initiative circulated by the Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana.

The committee has launched a petition drive in Nevada to put a constitutional amendment on the November ballot to legalize the use of an ounce or less of marijuana in private by people over 21. It needs to collect 51,234 valid signatures by June 15 to place the initiative before voters. Citizens would have to approve the ballot question this fall and again in 2006 to amend the constitution.

Marijuana would remain illegal under federal law, and moves to legalize it in Nevada could face federal challenges.

The parent organization of the Nevada pro-marijuana committee has been running advertisements plugging its argument that legalization will reduce teen marijuana use. They rely partly on Dutch drug statistics compiled by Cohen and his colleagues at the Centre for Drug Research at the University of Amsterdam. He headed the program until retiring March 1, but remains a consultant.

The ads point out 67 percent of high school seniors in Nevada have used marijuana, compared with only 28 percent in the Netherlands. However, the figure from the Netherlands reflects use by 16- to 19-year-olds.

A recent Review-Journal poll found Nevadans would reject the new initiative by a margin of 5 percentage points. Jennifer Knight, the spokeswoman for the pro-marijuana committee, was pleased by the results saying they reflect a dramatic shift from a vote in the November 2002 election.

That year, residents resoundingly rejected a proposal to allow adults to possess as much as three ounces of marijuana. Both that initiative and the current one have been financed by the Marijuana Policy Project of Washington, D.C.

Knight maintains supporters learned from the defeat and added safeguards to the new initiative that will keep marijuana out of the hands of youths and prevent people from driving under the drug's influence.

If voters back legal marijuana, the state becomes responsible for the cultivation and sale of the drug to adults. Knight predicts the number of illegal dealers would drop because of the availability. Teens, therefore, would be less likely to acquire drugs.

But Clark County District Attorney David Roger finds the reasoning specious. He contends if marijuana is legalized for adults, it follows more teenagers would get the drug. They would acquire it from sympathetic adults.

"Look what happens now with alcohol," Roger said. "Teenagers stand outside convenience stores and wait for an adult who will buy beer for them."

Roger said that marijuana use by teens in the Netherlands has tripled during the era of essentially legal pot and fears the same thing could happen in Nevada.

The Netherlands' Trimbos Research Institute found marijuana use by 12- to 18-year-olds actually nearly quadrupled from 1988 to 1996, from 3 percent to 11 percent. In 1999, that figure fell to 9 percent.

Before 1995, marijuana could be sold in Netherlands' coffee houses to teens as young as 16. That year the minimum age limit was raised to 18. The amount of marijuana that could be sold to a patron also was reduced to five grams, instead of 30 grams. There are 28 grams in an ounce.

Cohen said one third of Dutch teens buy their marijuana at coffee shops. The age for entrance to coffee shops was increased because of complaints from other European countries, particularly France, that they were corrupting youth.

But Cohen speculated teen use in the Netherlands might have increased in the 1990s even if there had been no coffee houses. Use climbed in other countries during that decade.

"Factors other than the accessibility of marijuana are very important," he said.

Even if use has increased in the Netherlands, Knight said, surveys show the war on drugs in the United States is not working, particularly in Nevada.

"I would sincerely doubt any statistic shows Dutch teenage use is less compared to us," she said. "You can twist statistics anyway you want, but we are always higher."

Knight added the fact that 67 percent of Nevada high school seniors have used marijuana is a "scary statistic."

"It means that many are exposed to the illicit drug world," Knight said. "No parent wants their kid to smoke pot."

In commercials that cite the two-thirds figure, the Marijuana Policy Project relies on a finding made in 2001 by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

That finding, however, is more extreme than the drug use figures compiled every two years by the Nevada Department of Education.

In its latest youth behavior risk survey, released in December, the state found 47 percent of Nevada high school students had used marijuana at least once. Twenty-two percent had used the drug in the previous month.

Those figures represent a decline in use by Nevada youths since the previous survey in 2001. That year 50 percent of high school students said they had tried marijuana, while 27 percent had used it in the last month.

Complete Title: Legalizing Marijuana May Not Change Much, Researcher Says

Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal (NV)
Author: Ed Vogel, Review-Journal
Published: Tuesday, March 30, 2004
Copyright: 2004 Las Vegas Review-Journal
Contact: letters@lvrj.com
Website: http://www.lvrj.com/
_________________
"look...the people you are looking for are the people you depend on.we cook your meals , we haul your trash ,we connect your calls, we drive your ambulances,we guard you while you sleep"

Tyler Durdan

[Rev.Holden Greene]

The text of the 2004 initiative is below.

Section 1. This measure shall be known as the "Regulation of Marijuana Amendment."

Section 2. The people of the State of Nevada hereby declare that their primary purpose in enacting this measure is to establish a comprehensive system of strict regulation to reduce or eliminate teenage access to marijuana, driving under the influence of marijuana, and the smoking of marijuana in public places. This system of regulation will also permit adults aged 21 and older to use marijuana in private and purchase it from a regulated market, which will generate tax revenues that will be dedicated primarily to alcohol and drug treatment and education programs.

Section 3. Article 4 of the Constitution of the State of Nevada is hereby amended by adding thereto a new section to read as follows:

Sec. 39. Regulation of marijuana.

1. As used in this section, "marijuana" means a plant of the genus Cannabis or its product, but does not include hashish.

2. The use or possession of one ounce or less of marijuana by a person who has attained the age of 21 years shall not be cause for arrest, civil or criminal penalty, or seizure or forfeiture of assets.

3. The legislature shall:

(a) Establish penalties for the possession or use of marijuana by a person who has not attained the age of 21 years.

(b) Establish penalties for a person who does not own or work at an establishment that is licensed to sell marijuana if the person is convicted of distributing or selling marijuana.

(c) Establish penalties for distributing or selling marijuana to a person who has not attained the age of 21 years.

(d) Establish a penalty of one to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 for a person who has attained the age of 18 years who does not own or work at an establishment that is licensed to sell marijuana if the person is convicted of a first offense of distributing or selling marijuana to a minor, and a maximum penalty of life in prison for a second or subsequent offense of distributing or selling marijuana to a minor.

(e) Establish penalties for driving or operating heavy machinery while under the influence of marijuana.

(f) Establish a penalty of five years to life in prison and a fine of up to $20,000 for a person who is convicted of vehicular manslaughter while under the influence of alcohol or any controlled substance, including marijuana.

(g) Establish penalties for the smoking of marijuana in a vehicle or public place, including a publicly operated carrier of passengers, a public park, or a place where gaming is permitted.

(h) Establish penalties for the distribution, sale, possession, or use of marijuana on the premises of a jail, prison, or public school.

4. The legislature shall provide by law for a system of regulation for the cultivation, distribution, sale, and taxation of marijuana, such that:

(a) Marijuana shall be available at low cost to patients who are authorized to use it in accordance with Section 38 of Article 4 of the Constitution of the State of Nevada.

(b) Only establishments that are licensed to sell marijuana may sell marijuana.

(c) All advertising of marijuana through television, radio, newspapers, magazines, billboards, and the Internet shall be prohibited.

(d) A person who has attained the age of 21 years has the right to purchase marijuana from a legally regulated system, rather than the criminal market.

(e) Employers shall not be required to accommodate the use, possession, or being under the influence of marijuana in a place of employment.

(f) The transport of marijuana into or out of the State of Nevada shall be prohibited unless federal law permits such transport.

(g) The license fees at wholesale and retail are the same for marijuana as for cigarettes, the tax for sale at wholesale shall be the same for marijuana as for tobacco products other than cigarettes, and the tax for sale of marijuana at retail shall be the same as the combined taxes on sales at retail of other products generally.

(h) The revenues generated from license fees and taxes associated with marijuana shall be earmarked such that:

(1) In an effort to eliminate waiting lists for Nevadans who want to receive treatment for their use of alcohol or other drugs, any Nevadan who wants such treatment shall receive it without delay, with priority given to Nevadans who are least able to pay for their own treatment. If revenues generated from the license fees and taxes associated with marijuana are insufficient to pay for the treatment of all Nevadans who want it, the legislature is not required to spend additional state funds on such treatment.

(2) Revenues that are not spent on alcohol or other drug treatment may be spent on educating children and the public with scientifically valid information about the effects of alcohol and other drugs, advising the public of the availability of alcohol and other drug treatment programs, and informing the public of what is permitted and not permitted under the system of marijuana regulation that this section establishes.

(3) Revenues that are not spent on treatment or education shall be returned to the state treasury.

(i) Establishments that are licensed to sell tobacco products shall have the right to purchase licenses to sell marijuana to persons who have attained the age of 21 years, provided that:

(1) Convenience stores, grocery stores, gas stations, bars, clubs, casinos, or any establishment where alcohol is sold shall not be licensed to sell marijuana.

(2) Establishments that are licensed to sell marijuana shall not be within 500 yards of a school or place of religious worship.

(3) A person who has not attained the age of 21 years shall not be permitted on the premises of an establishment that is licensed to sell marijuana.

(4) A person who owns or works at an establishment that is licensed to sell marijuana shall be sentenced to one to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 if the person is convicted of a first offense of knowingly distributing or selling marijuana to a minor, and a maximum penalty of life in prison for a second or subsequent offense of knowingly distributing or selling marijuana to a minor.

5. If any portion, clause, or phrase of this section is, for any reason, held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, the remaining portions, clauses, and phrases shall not be affected, but shall remain in full force and effect.

6. Any statute or regulation inconsistent with this section shall be null and void after December 5, 2006.

http://regulatemarijuana.org/04init/index.php?ref=498
_________________
"look...the people you are looking for are the people you depend on.we cook your meals , we haul your trash ,we connect your calls, we drive your ambulances,we guard you while you sleep"

Tyler Durdan

[zero]

If they legalize, prepare yourselves for the biggest stoner migration in history.

I know Ill move there.
_________________
www.shoutwire.com
www.spikedhumor.com

"I understand that fear is my friend, but not always. Never turn your back on fear. It should always be in front of you, like a thing that might have to be killed."