Editorial: Pot for fun should not be legalized

Friday, Feb. 20, 2004 | 9:27 a.m.

This week the "Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana" filed paperwork with the secretary of state's office to launch an initiative campaign. Two years ago a similar campaign was launched by "Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement." Two years from now they'll probably come up with another deceptive name for what it really is they want to do -- dupe Nevadans into becoming the first state in the nation to legalize marijuana.

Voters in Nevada's general election of November 2002 did not fall for their slick campaign, sponsored by a Washington-based group known as the Marijuana Policy Project. Question 9, which wanted to amend the Nevada Constitution to allow people 21 and older to legally possess up to 3 ounces of marijuana, failed by a margin of 61 percent to 39 percent.

This new campaign claims the current initiative is superior. This time the initiative seeks to legalize the possession of up to 1 ounce of marijuana by those 21 or over. In our view, whether it's 1 ounce or 3 ounces has no bearing on legalized marijuana's threat to public safety. We do not need more impaired drivers. Or impaired anybody. The new campaign also touts the initiative's strong penalties for people who abuse marijuana. This disguises the true motive, which is to use Nevada as a springboard for a national drive to legalize marijuana use. Besides, setting criminal penalties is a responsibility best left to the Nevada Legislature.

We support the use of marijuana under a doctor's guidance for relief of pain or other medical conditions. But in a society where drug victims can be counted by the millions, we cannot condone the use of marijuana for recreation.