Initiative to Regulate Marijuana Use Filed in Nevada
Nevadans for Sensible Marijuana Laws filed a new initiative to regulate Nevada marijuana law with the secretary of state's office last week. The organization needs to gather more than 97,000 signatures to have the measure sent to the 2011 Legislature. Their ultimate goal is to have the initiative placed on the 2012 ballot.
The manager of the campaign, David Schwartz, argues that marijuana is actually safer than alcohol and should therefore no longer be prohibited: "We will encourage voters to consider this fact and decide for themselves whether it makes sense to allow adults to use alcohol freely, but punish them if they choose to use a less harmful substance, marijuana." This latest initiative would allow 120 stores statewide to sell marijuana and would require them to pay a $2,500 licensing fee. Meanwhile, there could be only 50 growers, and they'd be required to pay $5,000 in fees.
Nevada marijuana law makes it a misdemeanor to possess for personal use one ounce or less of marijuana. Defendants convicted of a first offense pay $600 while second-time offenders pay $1,000, and successive convictions are chargeable as gross misdemeanors or felonies. Meanwhile, a first offense for possessing more than one ounce of marijuana for personal use is a category E felony; however, the judge will probably grant the defendant a suspended sentence and allow him/her to do drug court in lieu of jail.
