Review-Journal covers initiative to tax and regulate marijuana
Last updated November 22, 2005
Feature: The Push is On Again in Nevada
Drug War Chronicle; March 3, 2006
If the Las Vegas-based Committee for the Regulation and Control of
Marijuana (CRCM) and its national backers, the Marijuana Policy Project
(MPP) have their way, this is the year Nevada will vote to regulate and
control marijuana. If it happens, the Silver State will be the first in
the country to vote to undo marijuana prohibition. (Marijuana possession
in the privacy of one’s home is already legal in Alaska, but that was
the result of Alaska court decisions, not the popular vote.)
In a campaign that officially kicked off last month, CRCM and MPP hope
to finally get over the top after five years of working in the state. A
more loosely written initiative lost by a margin of 39% to 61% in 2002,
and due to a combination of organizer error and adverse ruling by Nevada
authorities, a proposed 2004 initiative failed to make the ballot. Last
year, reformers used a petition drive to dump the issue in the lap of
the Nevada legislature, which unsurprisingly failed to act, instead
choosing to dump it right back on the voters this year, which is just
what CRCM and MPP were looking for in the first place.
Since the failed 2002 effort, organizers have sharpened their message
and tightened their proposal to address concerns they have identified
among Nevada voters. Instead of allowing people 21 or over to possess up
to three ounces, the current measure would allow them to possess only
one ounce. Addressing concerns about youth, the measure increases
maximum penalties for marijuana distribution to a minor. Addressing
concerns about driving while high — an issue that hurt badly in 2002
when a Las Vegas newspaper editor was killed by a drug-intoxicated
driver — the measure increases maximum penalties for killing someone
while driving intoxicated.
The Nevada measure is far-reaching; it would direct the state to set up
a system of regulated marijuana distribution outlets. Organizers have
attempted to address possible concerns about that by explicitly
prohibiting convenience stores, gas stations, and night clubs from being
marijuana outlets and by location restrictions that would keep such
establishments far from schools and churches.
This time, the initiative will succeed, predicted CRCM head Neil Levine.
“In 2002, that was the first time people here had the chance to think
seriously about this, but now the idea of regulating marijuana has been
part of the dialogue for awhile,” he told DRCNet. “People understand
we’re telling the truth when we say our current laws don’t work. They
know that anyone who wants to smoke marijuana is smoking marijuana. The
question is whether we will finance a criminal market or create a
tightly regulated one,” he said. “It’s a very common sense argument. Our
opponents will have to defend the status quo, which is a miserable
failure.”
Failure or not, marijuana prohibition still has its supporters in
Nevada. It’s little surprise that they seem to be concentrated in the
ranks of law enforcement. “We don’t believe the legalization of any kind
of drug is a benefit to our community,” said Las Vegas Police Detective
David Kallas, head of the Las Vegas Police Protective Association.
“Having worked in law enforcement for 27 years, I understand that there
are thousands of nonviolent drug criminals in our prisons, but I don’t
see how legalization of marijuana will help anything,” he told DRCNet.
Kallas’ early talking points give some indication of why initiative
organizers fine-tuned their measure. “One concern I have is that if it
becomes more readily available, people who are weak in the mind will
just be able to get it at the corner store,” he said. “I am also afraid
it will increase drug dealing because people will have easier access,
and 21-year-olds will turn around and think what’s so bad about selling
a few joints to some kids.”
Kallas also complained that approving the measure would be bad for
Nevada’s image. “Our state already has a bad enough stigma because of
the legalization of gambling and what they say gambling does to people,
and because prostitution is legal. Why add one more burden to our
society?” he asked.
Funny Kallas should mention gambling and prostitution, because that’s
exactly what crossed the mind of late-night TV talk show host Conan
O’Brien. In a bit last week, O’Brien noted the initiative, saying “A
group of Nevada residents began a campaign to legalize marijuana in the
state of Nevada. The group’s slogan is: Whores and gambling aren’t
enough.”
Levine and CRCM promptly and laughingly turned that into a
media-generating poll about whether to make that the campaign’s official
slogan. “No, it doesn’t make a very good slogan,” Levine joked. “We
won’t be hiring Conan.” But it did garner some publicity.
So far, the campaign has been getting plenty of publicity, said Levine.
“We’re getting all kinds of media attention. Our grand opening last
month was covered on every single network’s news — even Telemundo — it
was on the morning and evening newscasts, we’re getting a bunch of talk
radio attention, there was an Associated Press story that went
nationwide. There has been a constant stream of stories coming out, and
those help us get our message out. And, of course, Conan. We had fun
with that.”
It won’t be all fun and games. While Det. Kallas and his allies are not
organized yet, the law enforcement spokesman said informal meetings to
plot strategy are taking place. And there is always the specter of drug
czar John Walters parachuting into the state to try to sabotage the
effort, a technique he has used to great effect in recent years.
“We’re very optimistic, but we’re also aware of the fact there is going
to be lots of opposition and it won’t be easy,” said MPP communications
director Bruce Mirken. “We expect the drug czar to come charging into
town and we expect local law enforcement to organize against this,” he
told DRCNet. “The fact they haven’t been visible yet doesn’t mean they
won’t be there. Particularly after the surprise win in Denver in
November, we expect the prohibitionists to have their long knives out.”
That municipal election, where Denver residents voted to legalize the
possession of up to an ounce of pot under a city ordinance, was enough
to bring Walters to Colorado a few weeks later to kick off his national
drug strategy for this year. A state contest where regulated sales are
on the ballot is almost certain to bring him back to Nevada, where he
campaigned against the 2002 initiative.
CRCM’s Levine said he was ready for whatever the opposition can bring.
“We’re going to run our campaign no matter what they do,” he said.
“We’re getting our message out, and we’ll deal with whatever comes our
way. I think Nevada voters understand it is time to have a marijuana
policy that works.”
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