AG’s office against Question 9

Friday, Oct. 18, 2002 | 9:31 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A person who smoked marijuana and then contracted cancer could sue the state if voters approve Question 9, the state attorney general's office said Thursday.

But Billy Rogers, the leader in the drive to legalize small amounts of marijuana for adults, called the comments "another scare tactic" by the initiative's opponents. Rogers said the opponents do not want to focus on the real issues.

Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa joined a list of law enforcement agencies in opposing Question 9, which would allow adults to legally possess up to three ounces of marijuana.

The proposition would allow the state to license stores to sell marijuana and possibly to generate up to $28 million a year in taxes.

"Nevada cannot administer a legal state-run system to supply marijuana without incurring possible civil liability on a large scale," Del Papa's chief criminal deputy Gerald Gardner said. "This may be particularly true, if, as the proponents suggest, Nevada generates tax revenues by the sale and distribution of marijuana."

Rogers, however, said the state now licenses stores that sell tobacco and alcohol, and the state has never been sued in cases in which a person contracted cancer from cigarettes or in a case in which an intoxicated driver caused an accident. Del Papa also took issue with a TV commercial produced by the Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement, the group backing Question 9, calling it "misleading."

Rogers disagreed, saying the ad quotes from language on the ballot that was prepared by the AG's office and Secretary of State Dean Heller.