Organization steps up petition drive for marijuana proposal

Wednesday, June 12, 2002 | 9:14 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A group pushing a constitutional amendment to liberalize marijuana laws says it is close to getting enough signatures to put the issue on the November election ballot.

Gail Tuzzolo, a Las Vegas spokeswoman for Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement, said the coming weeks will be crucial to whether the organization meets its goals on the petition drive. It needs 61,336 signatures, including at least 10 percent of the registered voters in 13 of the 17 counties.

The proposal would allow adults to have up to three ounces of marijuana without being charged with a crime. It authorizes the Legislature to set up a distribution system to get low-cost marijuana to those who need it medically and for sale to those who are 21 or older.

Tuzzolo declined to say how many signatures have been gathered. "We're fine in Washoe and in Las Vegas," she said. But she said there have been setbacks getting signatures in some rural counties.

The organization, she said, has redoubled its efforts. It started out paying petition circulators $1 a signature, and that now has been raised to $2 a name, she said. Coordinators are being paid an unspecified lump sum.

The group has also changed its strategy, going door-to-door rather than gathering signatures in public places. Tuzzolo said it is easier to verify a person is a registered voter eligible to sign the petition by going house-to-house.

Tuzzolo said that when the signature-gathering process began five weeks ago she doubted it would be successful. But she said it is going down to the wire now on if it will qualify.

The proposed amendment would impose a tax on marijuana similar to the one levied on tobacco products, other than cigarettes. A tax on tobacco products is imposed at 30 percent of the wholesale value and is expected to produce more than $7 million in revenue next fiscal year.

It would also prohibit shipping marijuana either into or out of the state, unless federal law permitted it.

The proposal would prohibit television, radio, newspaper, magazine or billboard advertising of marijuana.

The petitions with the names of registered voters must be submitted to county clerks or the registrar of voters, who would then verify the signers are actually registered voters.

The amendment would have to be approved by voters this election and again in 2004 before it would become part of the Nevada Constitution.

Voters in 1998 and 2000 approved a constitutional amendment to allow the use of marijuana by ill persons who get permission from their doctor.