Posted on 06/25/2002 11:42:38 AM PDT by WindMinstrel
A proposed constitutional amendment to allow adults to have a small amount of marijuana without being charged with a crime has cleared its first hurdle, the secretary of state's office said Monday. Kristi Geiser, campaign finance officer for the office, said the initiative petitions contain 109,048 signatures, far more than the 61,336 needed to qualify for the November ballot.
Verification of the signatures now starts and must be finished by July 8, Geiser said. In counties where there are fewer than 500 signatures on the petition, every one must be examined to determine if the person who signed is a registered voter.
In the other counties the clerks or registrar of voters must sample 5 percent or 500 signatures, whichever is more.
The signatures must represent 10 percent of registered voters in 13 of the 17 counties. The raw count shows the petition had the necessary signatures in all counties except Elko and Douglas.
Billy Rogers, a spokesman for the group circulating the petition, said he is confident there are enough valid signatures to be eligible for the ballot.
The drive is being sponsored by the nonprofit Medical Marijuana Project, based in Washington, D.C. Rogers said the petition-gathering process in Nevada cost $300,000.
"We got 109,000 signatures in 40 days," he said. "That's impressive."
He said he wanted to wait until the verification process is completed before any plans are revealed on the campaign for ballot approval. It must be approved this November and then in 2004 before it becomes part of the state Constitution.
The petition would permit 21-year-old and older Nevadans to possess up to three ounces of marijuana. It also authorizes the Legislature to establish a distribution system.
Nevadans at the last election gave final approval to a constitutional amendment to allow Nevadans to possess marijuana for medical purposes, once they get a statement from a doctor.
"Under the current law, seriously ill cancer patients are forced to grow their own marijuana or to purchase it from the criminal market," Rogers said. "This initiative will allow seriously ill patients to purchase medical marijuana through a regulated market."
A tax would be levied similar to the one on tobacco products, which are now taxed at 30 percent of wholesale value. That produces more than $7 million in revenue.
Advertising of marijuana would be prohibited, as would shipping it into or out of the state.
The petition says the Legislature shall provide for penalties for driving dangerously or operating heavy machinery while under the influence of marijuana. Those under 21 year old would not be allowed to possess or use the drug.
I may be wrong, but I thought it was the same as urine - up to thrity days if you are a heavy smoker.
There was a story posted on FR, maybe a year ago, about a school bus driver who was involved in a wreck. The blood test, I assume, showed cannabis in her system, although she was not under the influence, and claimed she had smoked three days earlier. The tests showed a "faint" trace, if I remember correctly. But under some screwed up State law, she was given a mandatory prison sentence that applied to anyone who caused a wreck with the traces of "illegal drugs" in their system.
I wish I had the reference, or even knew which state it was, but I do not. It was a fairly lengthy thread, so someone around here should remember it.
I know I may be in the minority with this position, but I refuse to support any initiative or law that allows the federal government to legally profit from "previously" illegal drugs once they are legalized. It is extortion in the greatest sense if one day, I can be imprisoned or killed for merely possessing a substance, and then the next, its all huncky dorry, as long as I pay the proper tribute.
After nearly 70 years of lies, distortions and the disruption/taking of lives, I personally would not allow the government to have the power to bring in revenue from the sale or taxing of previously illegal drugs. Call it a "punishment" of sorts. If pot or "drugs" were ever legalized on a national scale, I would support a Constitutional Amendment removing all "previously" illegal drugs from the taxing authority of any level of government. That is their just rewards.
I understand the point of many of you, that any step towards decriminalization is a positive step. I just can not support a "solution" that allows a government, who would previously imprison or kill citizens for mere possession, to profit from the sale or distribution of these previously egregious objects. Its not fair to the thousands who have been killed in this drug war, the innocent or the "guilty".
Try telling the family of the missionaries shot down over Columbia, or the families of those "mistakenly" shot in raids, "Hey, its all fine now, no one else will be shot/gunned down as long as we pay the government". I'm sure they will be comforted.
I caught this as kind of humorous. What are the chances that the cop catches you just as you took the first hit? That's what I's call bad luck.
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