cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Referendum May Get New Life Marijuana Referendum May Get New Life Posted by CN Staff on September 03, 2004 at 08:16:15 PT By Ed Vogel, Review-Journal Capital Bureau Source: Las Vegas Review Journal Carson City -- Nevada voters may get a chance to legalize marijuana after all, the secretary of state's office announced Thursday. A day after Secretary of State Dean Heller announced the marijuana petition drive fell 1,925 signatures short of what's needed to qualify for the Nov. 2 ballot, his assistant said 2,360 previously rejected signatures could put the petition over the top. These are signatures of newly registered voters in Clark County that U.S. District Judge James Mahan ruled last month should not be counted. The Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana appealed that decision to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The court is expected to rule by Tuesday. Deputy Secretary of State Renee Parker said if the marijuana committee wins the appeal, then the petition will go on the ballot. She was notified Thursday of the 2,360 potentially valid signatures by Clark County Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax. "We don't have to check other counties," Parker said. "There are enough signatures in Clark County alone to put them on the ballot." "We really have a shot at this," said Jennifer Knight, communications director for the Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana. "The 9th Circuit has a history of respecting voters' rights." Mahan on Aug. 12 said county clerk and election registrars could not count signatures of some newly registered voters. Only registered voters can sign petitions. Some people registered to vote and then signed the marijuana petition. But their voter registration applications were not given to election department workers for processing until later. Therefore, it appeared they signed the petition before they officially became registered voters. The judge said the registrars should only count signatures of newly registered voters whose applications were turned in the day they signed petitions, or postmarked on the day they signed petitions. Knight, however, charged a Clark County employee told her organization it had 10 days to turn in registration applications. "We just want them to honor that," Knight said. "The law is not unclear. You have counties all over the state doing it differently." If approved by voters in November and again in 2006, the petition would legalize up to 1 ounce of marijuana for adults. The petition also would set up harsher penalties for vehicular manslaughter and providing marijuana to minors.Note: Appeals court to rule Tuesday on counting 2,360 rejected signatures.Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal (NV)Author: Ed Vogel, Review-Journal Capital BureauPublished: Friday, September 03, 2004Copyright: 2004 Las Vegas Review-JournalContact: letters reviewjournal.comWebsite: http://www.reviewjournal.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/Regulate Marijuanahttp://www.regulatemarijuana.org/Marijuana Petition Fails To Qualify in Nevadahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19423.shtmlMarijuana Initiative: Backers Cry Foul http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19373.shtmlFederal Judge Throws Lifeline To Pot Initiativehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19332.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #7 posted by afterburner on September 08, 2004 at 20:41:15 PT Pointless Prohibition Canada: Editorial: Pointless Prohibition 07 Sep 2004 National Post (Canada) http://www.mapinc.org/ccnews/v04/n1267/a08.htmlNewshawks: More Da Kine Coverage, Newshawks with Pot-TV http://www.pot-tv.net/archive/shows/pottvshowse-2954.html Running Time: 5 min Date Entered: 02 Sep 2004 Viewer Rating: 8.22 (5 votes) Number of Views: 1123 ' In the second day of major coverage about Vansterdam's first cafe to openly deal buds, we see the story taking on a positive spin with potential support from City council and elsewhere. ' "Four strong winds that blow lonely, Seven seas that run high, All these things that don't change, Come what may." --Four Strong Winds (Ian Tyson) 2:52 Master #50467 recorded September 11, 1963 http://users2.ev1.net/~smyth/linernotes/thesongs/FourStrongWinds.htm"We love our lovin’ But not like we love our freedom" --HELP ME Lyrics by Joni Mitchell http://www.lyricsfreak.com/j/joni-mitchell/75303.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by FoM on September 08, 2004 at 20:20:20 PT Update on Nevada Initiative from KLAS-TV Court Turns Down Marijuana Initiative (Sep. 8) -- Nevadans will not get to vote on a measure to legalize small amounts of marijuana. A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that the initiative didn't meet the criteria set down in state law to get a place on the 2004 ballot. The group trying to legalize the possession of up to one ounce of pot did not turn in enough valid signatures to qualify the measure. The ACLU says Nevadans are losing their constitutional right to vote on a public policy issue."The real losers here are the voters in the State of Nevada, especially the voters who signed the petition because they wanted to see this issue on the November ballot," said Gary Peck with the ACLU.A three-judge panel also turned down the petition drive designed to repeal the $833 million tax increase approved last year. The court upheld a district judge's ruling that people who signed the petitions had to be registered voters.Copyright: 2004 WorldNow and KLAS http://www.klas-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2276287&nav=168XQiAe [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by kaptinemo on September 03, 2004 at 16:27:28 PT: The penultimate refuge of hypocrisy Is sophistry. Sophistry such as Judge Mahan's inexcusable attempt to void the rights of fellow citizens with such a stupid ploy.Things are getting close to critical mass. More and more people are becoming aware of the reality of cannabis=medicine, and the the forces that seek to prevent the inevitable begin reaching for straws in last ditch attempts to thwart the 'will of the people'. This is why people like Judge Mahan, in a move so lame it gives the word a new nadir in meaning, tries to pull a blatantly transparent stunt like this. Registered voters are registered voters; there's no time stamp or expiration date on their sovereign franchise as citizens, save under felony convictions. To claim otherwise...well, Judge Mahan no doubt routinely threatens those in his courtroom with jail for contempt. If anything is contemptuous of the democratic process, it is his Olympian disregard for the rights of his fellow citizens. Perhaps the judge should be treated to a taste of his own medicine to cure him of such contempt? [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by MikeEEEEE on September 03, 2004 at 14:59:37 PT Hmmmm... Are these guys trying to act credible? I'll believe it when I see it. It seems they've tried everything in the world to stop it. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Max Flowers on September 03, 2004 at 09:13:25 PT Hmmm... So this judge Mahan either lied, or didn't know the rules of his own game? Very interesting. I find it hard to believe he made that mistake. Judges have procedural references immediately at hand, all the time. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Virgil on September 03, 2004 at 08:59:49 PT What about paraphanalia? Look at Ohio were less than 100 grams is a small fine and paraphanalia is what gets you burned.Understatement has a value that is not appreciated by the reformers. Paraphanalia laws are just stacking more injustice on top of injustice. There would be a great service if one of the states that had iniatives were to take on the issue of paraphanalia. It could enlighten some people on things such as vaporizers and alternative methods of consumption and undermine the demonization the prohibitionists give to smoking. When you think about the paraphanalia laws, it leads to an absurdity in lawmaking and following that path might lead some to the absurdity of all the cannabis laws. We know that an iniative for MMJ is almost certain to pass anywhere voters are given the chance to decide. So what makes you wonder why it is hard to get ten percent of the voters signatures for an iniative. Don't you think that people are apprehensive about putting their name on an iniative because of the government oppression? People may not be allowed on television to talk of oppression and tyranny, but they feel it.I still cannot get over California. It would be nice to know the breakdown in a poll county by county for people in favor of legalization in California. It would be nice if it gave results by education levels to enlighten us all. That is where I think of Valerie Corral and what her journey has taught her. She knows of the miracle of cannabis and the injustice and corruption of the system. She knows of the bad faith that characterizes the prohibitionists. A person would think that she and others like her conclude that the miracle of cannabis would be best utilized if cannabis were free for everyone.It is somewhat like Montel. He may want medical marijuana, but his path would have most assuredly taught him that there needs to be Free Cannabis For Everyone and if I am not wrong he has expressed that opinion, even though it is not the cause he is campioning.If Alaska passes their iniative, it will be complete different playing field. California will struggle just for the silver medal in leading the contest in the race for legalization. It was California's race to win and it could be that they only tie Nevada for silver. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by goneposthole on September 03, 2004 at 08:37:23 PT Good for Nevada Great news. A little sanity in an increasingly insane system. We have the Democrats and Republicans to thank for that. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment