Pair of petitions are filed

Cy Ryan and David Kihara

Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2004 | 11:14 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- An initiative petition to ban smoking in most public places was filed in eight counties with 77,440 signatures Tuesday and could end up in front of the 2005 Legislature. On the same day, a petition pushing for the legalization and regulation of marijuana was filed in five counties across Nevada.

The smoking petition -- supported by the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association and the American Lung Association -- is a rival to a less-restrictive smoking initiative sought by casinos and bars.

Kendall Stagg, policy director of the Nevada Tobacco Prevention Coalition, said, "The public is squarely behind this initiative. We are confident the measure will qualify," referring to the one supported by the health groups.

Election officials in Washoe, Clark, Elko, Douglas, Storey, Churchill and Lyon counties and Carson City will start counting the signatures to make sure there are at least the required 51,337 signatures.

If there are, county officials will examine the signatures to make sure they are registered voters.

Stagg, employed by the American Cancer Society, said those who gathered the signatures asked the signers if they were registered voters. And he said they verified the signatures with the voter files.

The rival group, called the Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act, submitted 87,613 signatures in 17 counties a week ago. Local election officials are now counting those signatures to verify the signatures.

If both petitions qualify, they will be transferred to the 2005 Legislature that must consider them within 40 days. If the petitions are not passed, they will then appear on the 2006 election ballot and the one with the most votes will become law.

Lee Haney, a Rogich Communications Group official and spokeswoman for the Clean Indoor Air group, said its petition is supported by casinos, liquor distributors, slot-route operators, convenience stores, gas stations and the Nevada Tavern Owners Association.

Both petitions would allow smoking in casinos. The health group, however, wants to permit it only in the areas where minors are prohibited. Haney said that would mean smoking would be prohibited in hotel rooms.

Smoking would be allowed in taverns. Stagg's group wants to permit smoking in bars only where there is incidental food service such as peanuts, popcorn, chips, pretzel and other items that are not subject to health licensing.

The two groups agree that smoking should be prohibited in movie theaters, video arcades and government buildings. Both would permit smoking in Strip clubs or brothels and retail tobacco stores.

The marijuana petition, which was filed in the counties of Carson, Clark, Douglas, Lyon and Washoe counties, collected 84,665 signatures, said Larry Sandell, the campaign manager for the Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana, which is spearheading the effort to legalize marijuana.

Sandell said that an estimated 57,835 signatures on the petition are likely valid -- well above the 51,337 needed for the petition to reach the Legislature. Like the smoking petition, the Legislature has 40 days to decide on it. If the lawmakers do not pass the petition, it will go to the 2006 ballot and could become a law.

Sandell said that the support for the petition "is not great" in the Legislature and he doesn't expect it to pass.

But he is optimistic that debating the bill in the legislature will also spurn discussion in the public, and an articulate debate can be held on the issue of legalization of marijuana.

The petition asks that possession of an ounce or less of marijuana is not a crime, and that owning certain marijuana-related paraphernalia is not a crime.

The petition also advocates for the regulation of marijuana, meaning that state-regulated, licensed businesses could sell marijuana.

The petition states that an individual would need to be 21 years old or older to purchase or use marijuana.

"Marijuana prohibition has absolutely failed," Sandell said. "If an adult or child wants to buy it, they can get it. We just want to regulate it."

Larry Lomax, Clark County Registrar, said on Tuesday that if the petition has the required number of signatures, it will get sent to the secretary of state's office. Once certified, the Clark County Election Department can begin the process of validating the signatures.

He said it will probably take more than 20 days for the counting and validation of signatures to be complete.