Police accused of illegal campaign against pot

Keith Paul

Monday, Aug. 12, 2002 | 10:57 a.m.

The leader of a group pushing for a ballot question that would ease marijuana possession laws sent a letter this morning to Clark County Sheriff Jerry Keller accusing Metro Police of using government time and resources to campaign against the initiative -- a violation of state law.

"The bottom line is you shouldn't be able to use tax dollars and resources to campaign," said Billy Rogers, campaign manager for Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement.

Undersheriff Richard Winget said Metro broke no law when he directed narcotics Detective Todd Raybuck to appear on television news programs -- including CNN's "Crossfire" -- displaying marijuana and discussing Question 9.

"Mr. Rogers started this by stating the police officers of Nevada were supporting Question 9," Winget said this morning. "Every time a group takes a position, the media come to us for a response. We responded to the media inquires. We did not mount a campaign against Question 9, we simply responded to media requests."

The attention to Question 9 -- which would decriminalize possession of 3 ounces of marijuana by people over 21 -- increased last week when Andy Anderson, president of Nevada Conference of Police and Sheriffs, said his group was supporting the initiative.

The endorsement by NCOPS -- an organization of police unions -- received nationwide attention and was quickly denounced by police officials. Raybuck went on several news shows with marijuana checked out of Metro's evidence vault to demonstrate what 3 ounces of marijuana looked like.

"In his 'Crossfire' appearance, Mr. Raybuck used 6 ounces of marijuana obtained from Metro's evidence vault as a prop in his political campaign against Question 9," Rogers wrote in the letter to Keller. "We think it is likely that tax dollars and government resources were used to provide Mr. Raybuck with the 6 ounces of marijuana he checked out as 'evidence.' "

Rogers told the Sun his group has to report all its contributions and expenses in its campaign for the ballot question and Metro should not use government money in its campaign against the question.

Winget said Metro did not seek the media exposure but was replying to requests for interviews.

"They (the media) deluged us and asked us to bring the marijuana," he said.

Rogers' group seemed to score an important endorsement when NCOPS came out last week in favor of the passage of Question 9, but that was very short-lived. After several days of criticism, and several NCOPS board members saying they misunderstood what Anderson was seeking support for, the board met on Friday. Board members said they thought the issue was medical marijuana.

Anderson resigned at Friday's meeting as the president of NCOPS -- a group he helped found more than 20 years ago -- saying he didn't want to hurt the credibility of the group.

"Should cops take a stand against drugs? You bet. But it's not the best use of police time to arrest people on marijuana possession and then they are just let go," Anderson said.