Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Legislators have no plans to consider marijuana, gun control initiatives

The Nevada Legislature apparently won’t consider initiative petitions to allow the sale of recreational marijuana and to require background checks for some gun sales.

Initiative backers gathered the necessary number of signatures to qualify the plans, but under the state constitution, they first must be presented to the Legislature for approval in the first 40 days of the session. If not, they go on the 2016 election ballot.

Assembly Speaker John Hambrick, R-Las Vegas, said Wednesday he has no intention of bringing up the initiatives.

Hambrick said no legislators have requested the measures be placed on the agenda.

The law required 101,667 signatures of registered voters to qualify the initiatives. The marijuana petition had 203,197 names and the gun initiative gathered 246,197 signatures.

Joe Brezny, who headed the drive for recreational marijuana, said it has been prepared to go to the ballot. But he said he would like to see a good discussion in the Legislature since more than 200,000 people signed the petition.

“We have lobbyists in the building and he (Hambrick) will be getting requests for a hearing,” said Bresny. He said it was a disservice to the people who signed the initiative not to give it consideration.

The Secretary of State’s Office verified there were enough valid signatures. The petitions, according to the Nevada Constitution, are to be submitted to the Legislature at its opening session. The initiatives take precedent over all other bills except appropriation measures.

Matt Griffin, the registered agent for the gun background checks, could not be reached for comment.

The marijuana petition would permit a person to use or possess one ounce or less of the drug or one-eighth of an ounce of concentrated marijuana. It would set up 80 retail stores in Clark County, 20 in Washoe County; four in Carson City and two each in the other counties.

The gun check initiative would require background checks of a person who buys weapons at a trade show or the sale between individuals.

Hambrick, a gun owner, said he opposes both initiatives. But he favors the current law allowing Nevadans to have marijuana for medical purposes.

This apparently will be a repeat of the 2013 Legislature, which refused to consider the initiative by schoolteachers to impose a new tax. Voters in November 2014 rejected the tax plan.

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