Vote YES on question 9

www.nrle.org  


 

       Nevada

 

decriminalized
medical


Home > State By State Laws > Nevada About this report


Incarceration

Fine
Possession
Age 21 years or over, any amount (first offense) misdemeanor none* $600
Age 21 years or over, any amount (second offense) misdemeanor none* $1,000
Age 21 years or over, any amount (third offense) misdemeanor 1 year $2,000
Age 21 years or over, any amount (fourth offense) felony 1 - 4 years $5,000
Age less than 21 years less than 1 oz (first and second offense) felony 1 - 4 years** $5,000
Age less than 21 years less than 1 oz (third offense) felony 1 - 4 years $5,000
*Possible drug treatment.
**Probation usually granted for 1st and 2nd offenses.
Medical use permitted if less than 1 oz or 3 to 4 plants.
Sale or Cultivation
Less than 100 lbs (first offense) felony 1 - 6 years $20,000
Less than 100 lbs (second offense) felony
2 – 10 years
$20,000
Less than 100 lbs (subsequent offense) felony
3 - 15 years
$20,000
100 to 2,000 lbs felony 5 years $25,000
2,000 to 10,000 lbs felony 2 - 20 years $50,000
More than 10,000 lbs felony life*** $200,000
To a minor (first offense) felony 1 - 20 years variable
To a minor (second offense) felony life variable
Within 1,000 feet of school or other specifed areas felony double penalty double penalty
***Parole possible after 5 years.
Medical use permitted if less than 1 oz (3 to 4 plants).
Miscellaneous (paraphernalia, license suspensions, drug tax stamps, etc...)
Paraphernalia possession misdemeanor 6 months $1,000
Paraphernalia sale felony 1 - 4 years $5,000
Details

Possession of marijuana by persons 21 years of age or older is a misdemeanor and is punishable by a fine of $600 or possible drug treatment. For a second offense, the fine increases to $1,000. For a third offense, the punishment is up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,000. A fourth offense changes the classification to a felony and is punishable by 1 - 4 years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.

Possession of marijuana by persons under 21 years of age of

Assembly Bill 453
allows for medical use of marijuana in Nevada and went into effect October 2001 (Word doc).

less than one ounce of marijuana is a felony, punishable by 1 - 4 years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000. Probation is usually granted in lieu of imprisonment for first and second offenses, for third offenses, there is a presumption of imprisonment.

Cultivation, delivery or sale of less than 100 pounds of marijuana is punishable by 1 - 6 years in prison and a fine of up to $20,000 for the first offense. For a second offense, the penalty increases to 2 - 10 years in prison and a fine up to $20,000. For a third or subsequent offense, the penalty increases to 3 - 15 years in prison and a fine up to $20,000. Cultivation, delivery or sale of 100 pounds or more is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine up to $25,000. For amounts of 2,000 pounds or greater, the penalty increases to 2 - 20 years in prison and a fine up to $50,000. For amounts greater than 10,000 pounds the penalty can be up to life in prison, with the possibility for parole after a minimum of five years and a fine up to $200,000.

It is an affirmative defense to any charge of possession, delivery or production of marijuana that the person is engaged in the medical use of marijuana if the amount is no more than one ounce of usable marijuana, three mature plants or four immature plants.

Any sale to a minor is punishable by 1 - 20 years in prison for the first offense, and up to life for a second offense. Sale within 1,000 feet of a school, video arcade, public pool or youth center doubles the possible penalty.

Possession of paraphernalia is punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine up to $1,000. Sale of paraphernalia is punishable by 1 - 4 years in prison and a fine up to $5,000.

Decriminalization: The state has decriminalized marijuana to some degree. Typically, decriminalization means no prison time or criminal record for first-time possession of a small amount for personal consumption. The conduct is treated like a minor traffic violation.

Medical marijuana: This state has medical marijuana laws enacted. Modern research suggests that cannabis is a valuable aid in the treatment of a wide range of clinical applications. These include pain relief, nausea, spasticity, glaucoma, and movement disorders. Marijuana is also a powerful appetite stimulant and emerging research suggests that marijuana's medicinal properties may protect the body against some types of malignant tumors, and are neuroprotective. For more information see NORML's Medical Marijuana section.

Nevada

SUMMARY: Sixty-five percent of voters approved Question 9 on November 7, 2000, which amends the states’ constitution to recognize the medical use of marijuana.  The law took effect on October 1, 2001.  The law removes state-level criminal penalties on the use, possession and cultivation of marijuana by patients who have “written documentation” from their physician that marijuana may alleviate his or her condition.  Patients diagnosed with the following illnesses are afforded legal protection under this act: AIDS; cancer; glaucoma; and any medical condition or treatment to a medical condition that produces cachexia, persistent muscle spasms or seizures, severe nausea or pain.  Other conditions are subject to approval by the health division of the state Department of Human Resources. Patients (or their primary caregivers) may legally possess no more than one ounce of usable marijuana, and may cultivate no more than seven marijuana plants, of which no more than three may be mature.  The law establishes a confidential state-run patient registry that issues identification cards to qualifying patients. Patients who do not join the registry or possess greater amounts of marijuana than allowed by law may argue the “affirmative defense of medical necessity” if they are arrested on marijuana charges. Legislators added a preamble to the legislation stating, “[T]he state of Nevada as a sovereign state has the duty to carry out the will of the people of this state and regulate the health, medical practices and well-being of those people in a manner that respects their personal decisions concerning the relief of suffering through the medical use of marijuana.”  A separate provision requires the Nevada School of Medicine to “aggressively” seek federal permission to establish a state-run medical marijuana distribution program.

AMENDMENTS: No.

CONTACT INFORMATION: Application information for the Nevada medical marijuana registry is available by writing or calling:

Nevada Department of Agriculture
P.O. Box 948
Carson City, NV 89707-0948
(775) 684-5333
(Attention: Cecile Crowfoot)

Dear Friend:

In an historic decision on Friday, August 29, the Alaska Court of
Appeals ruled that the privacy clause of the Alaska Constitution
protects personal possession of marijuana. This ruling -- which
overturned the conviction of a North Pole man charged with marijuana
possession -- re-legalizes the possession and/or cultivation of up to
four ounces of marijuana in one's home anywhere in Alaska.

The Alaska state government has vowed to appeal the case to the Alaska
Supreme Court, which will presumably rule on the matter sometime next
year. Please visit http://www.mpp.org to read two news articles about
the decision.

In 1975, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled in "Ravin v. State of Alaska"
that a fundamental constitutional right to privacy protects personal
marijuana possession. Because of "Ravin," an individual could legally
possess up to four ounces of marijuana for personal use after 1975.

In 1990, a voter initiative changed state law to make possession of
any amount of marijuana illegal, even in one's own home.

The appellate court decision on Friday deemed the 1990 voter
initiative unconstitutional, on the grounds that a popular voter
initiative cannot overturn a core constitutional principle. Please
visit http://www.mpp.org/pdf/AK_decision_082903.pdf to read the court
ruling.

When this case is decided by the Alaska Supreme Court, Alaska could
serve as a model for states to allow responsible adult use of
marijuana without the fear of arrest or imprisonment.

Sincerely,

Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.

P.S. To join MPP or otherwise donate to our work, please visit
     http://www.mpp.org/donate or mail your contribution to MPP,
     P.O. Box 77492, Washington, DC 20013. Thank you for your support.

Dear Friend:

The citizens of Seattle struck a blow against marijuana prohibition on
Tuesday, September 16, when they voted to make marijuana offenses the
lowest priority of city law enforcement. Despite fierce opposition to
the measure from White House Drug Czar John Walters, Initiative 75
passed by a comfortable 59% to 41% margin. Please visit
http://www.mpp.org/states/site/quicknews.cgi?key=4929 to read the
Seattle Times article about the initiative victory.

In the September 17 edition of Seattle Weekly, in an article
describing Walters' visit to Seattle to campaign against
Initiative 75, the drug czar is quoted as calling for a "national
debate" about marijuana. In the past, he has repeatedly avoided
debates or joint appearances with representatives of MPP and other
drug policy organizations. In response to his change of opinion, MPP
immediately faxed a letter to Walters' office, proposing a debate on
national television within the next six months. Please see
http://www.mpp.org/releases/nr091703walters.html for MPP's news
release.

You can help to make sure this debate happens by sending (1) a letter-
to-the-editor to your local newspapers and (2) a similar letter to
Drug Czar John Walters himself (e-mail: ondcp@ncjrs.org;
fax: 3012). Here are a few points you might include:

   * According to an October 2002 Time/CNN poll, 80% of the American
     people think "adults should be able to use marijuana legally for
     medical purposes."

   * An estimated 83.2 million Americans age 12 and over -- or 36.9%
     of the population -- have used marijuana at least once in their
     lives, according to the 2001 National Household Survey on Drug
     Abuse. And the aforementioned Time/CNN poll found that the number
     could actually be closer to 100 million.

   * Recent surveys of teen drug use -- including the national PRIDE
     Survey that was released on September 3 -- show big increases in
     the use of both marijuana and hard drugs, suggesting that the
     drug czar's TV ad campaign is backfiring.

   * Eight states -- Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine,
     Nevada, Oregon, and Washington -- currently have laws protecting
     medical marijuana patients from arrest and jail. And in May of
     this year, Maryland's Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich signed into
     law a bill providing for greatly reduced marijuana possession
     penalties for seriously ill patients.

   * Canada and the Netherlands have legalized the medical use of
     marijuana and have acted to make it available to patients.

   * Canada, Great Britain, and Switzerland are currently considering
     plans to reduce or eliminate criminal penalties for adult
     marijuana possession and use. Other nations, including Spain,
     Italy, and the Netherlands, have already done so.

   * If the drug czar really believes his policies are beneficial to
     our nation, he should have the courage to debate knowledgeable
     opponents.

The same day that Seattle residents passed Initiative 75, MPP
challenged the drug czar on another front. Walters held a press
conference in Washington, D.C., to announce a new campaign to reduce
the incidence of teens' driving under the influence of marijuana.
Though the drug czar's staffers refused to admit MPP representatives
to the event, MPP Director of Government Relations Steve Fox appeared
on CNN Headline News that night to criticize the effort. Fox noted
that while the drug czar's office focuses its time and considerable
resources on marijuana, not only has past-month use of marijuana by
junior high students risen by 51% in the past year -- according to the
PRIDE Survey mentioned above -- but cocaine and heroin use by teens
skyrocketed as well. (For more information, please see
http://www.mpp.org/releases/nr091603ondcp.html  .)

If you haven't already, please consider donating to our "War on Drug
Czar" campaign at http://www.mpp.org/WarOnDrugCzar/donate .

Thank you in advance for your help.

Sincerely,

Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.

Dear Friend:

Great news! The number of states that protect medical marijuana
patients from arrest and prison is about to jump from eight to nine.
Yesterday, the Vermont Legislature approved the Marijuana Policy
Project's bill to protect medical marijuana patients from arrest --
and Vermont's Republican governor announced that he will let the bill
become law.

MPP's bill passed the state Senate by an overwhelming 20-7 vote
yesterday, finally bringing an end to a long and complicated
legislative struggle.

Although the Vermont House of Representatives tried to kill the bill
twice this year, MPP fought hard to resuscitate it -- and won.

We deployed a massive grassroots mobilization that swamped state
legislators' offices with postcards, phone calls, and e-mails from
constituents.

And in Burlington, Vermont's largest city, MPP ran a successful
campaign to pass a ballot measure back in March which called on the
state Legislature to enact a statewide medical marijuana law.
Burlington voters passed the initiative by an 83% to 17% vote, causing
a key state legislator from Burlington to switch his vote ... which
gave us the majority we needed to move the bill out of his committee.

And MPP's blanketed the airwaves with hard-hitting TV ads featuring
Vermont patients explaining how marijuana helps control their
suffering. Quite simply, the ads shamed certain wavering politicians
into supporting MPP's bill. To watch the ads yourself, please visit
the following links:

           http://www.mpp.org/streaming/VT_commercial.mov
           http://www.mpp.org/streaming/VT_commercial2.mov
           http://www.mpp.org/streaming/VT_commercial3.mov

According to MPP's records, you have not yet made a financial donation
to MPP (or the tax-deductible MPP Foundation) in 2004. Would you
please consider visiting http://www.mpp.org/donate0941 to donate $10
or more today?

The Vermont Senate first passed MPP's medical marijuana bill in 2003,
but the House passed a different version on May 13, necessitating a
return to the Senate for an additional vote on the revised bill. After
fighting and winning in the Senate yesterday, the bill is finally
being sent to Gov. James Douglas (R).

The governor consistently opposed MPP's bill while it was being
debated in the Legislature, but he announced after yesterday's Senate
vote that he will allow the bill to become law without his signature.
His statement yesterday acknowledged that "marijuana offers those with
the most painful chronic diseases a measure of hope in a time of
suffering." See http://www.mpp.org/states/site/quicknews.cgi?key=7305
to read his statement.

Since Gov. Douglas will not stand in the way, the bill will become law
in three weeks -- marking the first time a medical marijuana bill was
enacted into law over the objections of a governor.

The bill allows patients suffering from AIDS, cancer, and multiple
sclerosis to possess and grow medical marijuana for personal use.

Vermont's victory is the second time a state legislature has approved
legislation to protect medical marijuana patients from arrest. Of the
other eight states that have enacted similar laws allowing seriously
ill patients to use medical marijuana with their doctor's
recommendation -- Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada,
Oregon, and Washington -- all but Hawaii's law were enacted through
the ballot initiative process.

And, in Maryland, the Legislature and Gov. Bob Ehrlich (R) enacted a
different kind of medical marijuana law ... one that protects medical
marijuana patients from jail if they can demonstrate that their use
was medical in nature ... but the law doesn't protect them from being
arrested.

If one counts Maryland's law as a medical marijuana law, then the last
two state medical marijuana laws will have been enacted with the
consent of Republican governors.

Thanks to MPP's 15,000 dues-paying members, we are making real
progress. But we need your continued support to fund our work through
the rest of this year. Won't you please visit
http://www.mpp.org/donate0941 to make a financial contribution today?
Or visit http://www.mpp.org/Pioneers to set up your own personal Web
page to raise funds for MPP from your friends and family. Thank you ...

Sincerely,

Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.

======================================================================

The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 79,000 subscribers
on this e-mail list will make at least one financial donation to MPP's
work in 2004. According to our records, you have not yet donated this
year. Would you please consider making one donation this year by
visiting http://www.mpp.org/donate0941 today?

As a part of this campaign, we hope that 500 volunteers will each
commit to raising $1,000 from their friends and colleagues, with
another 250 volunteers committing to raise $2,000 each. Please see
http://www.mpp.org/Pioneers to sign up for this campaign. (Since MPP
launched this campaign on May 4, 34 people have signed up.)

MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2004 strategic
plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2004plan -- if you and other allies are
generous enough to donate and/or raise the following sums in 2004:

TYPE OF DONOR ..... $ GOALS FOR 2004 ..... $ RAISED IN 2004
-----------------------------------------------------------
monthly pledgers ........ $52,000 ............ $24,226 ....
less than $1,000 ....... $446,000 ............ $92,174 ....
$1,000 to $1,999 ....... $500,000 ............ $14,025 ....
$2,000 to $2,999 ....... $500,000 ............. $4,591 ....
$3,000 to $24,999 ...... $100,000 ............ $24,000 ....
$25,000 to $99,999 ..... $300,000 ........... $135,000 ....
$100,000 and up ...... $1,600,000 ........... $130,000 ....
-----------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS ............... $3,498,000 ........... $424,017 ....

www.hempfiles.com

For and Against

 


   please don't drink and drive 

Yes on 9 
 Dear Friend:

Good news. A new Zogby poll, released on August 27, shows overwhelming
support for legal access to medical marijuana among likely New
Hampshire Democratic primary voters -- and shows that presidential
candidates who support medical marijuana are likely to gain support
from the electorate.

Eighty-four percent of voters said they support changing federal law
to allow patients to use medical marijuana without fear of arrest,
with only 14 percent in opposition and two percent not sure. Of those
who said the issue would affect their votes, medical marijuana
supporters outnumbered opponents by nearly seven to one. To read
Zogby's detailed report of the poll results on medical marijuana
questions, please visit http://www.mpp.org/pdf/nh_poll_rpt.pdf .

The public's overwhelming -- and growing -- support for protecting
seriously ill patients is starting to affect media coverage of the
presidential race. You may remember that, on July 17, New Hampshire's
largest newspaper, the Union Leader, referred to MPP's New Hampshire
project -- Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana (GSMM) -- as "the
most active and most visible" of any of the special interest groups in
the presidential election. Most recently, on August 28, GSMM Campaign
Coordinator Aaron Houston was interviewed about the Zogby poll during
the 5:00 p.m. newscast on WMUR, New Hampshire's only statewide
television station and network affiliate. See all of the press GSMM
has been generating at http://www.GraniteStaters.com/news/press.html .

Meanwhile, we're continuing our attempt to get all of the candidates
on record as supporting medical marijuana. We've turned up the heat on
candidates who state that they are willing to let the DEA's attacks on
the sick continue. Last week, GSMM had three memorable encounters with
U.S. Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) -- who told the San Francisco Chronicle
in May that he favored continuing DEA raids in California, simply
because they are permitted by federal law.

At one New Hampshire encounter, Sen. Edwards appeared to modify his
stand -- but then quickly backtracked, reiterating his support for the
raids. So we responded in our nation's democratic tradition -- with
peaceful protests -- only to learn that an Edwards administration
might not tolerate dissenting opinions.

In a shocking series of encounters from August 20 to 24, GSMM members
attempting to peacefully picket at Sen. Edwards' campaign events were
repeatedly met by campaign staffers who tried to block our entry into
public parks, seize our signs and flyers, and finally, when we
asserted our First Amendment rights, sent campaign workers to hold up
Edwards lawn signs, blocking the press and public from seeing our
placards. Despite this harassment, we successfully gained entry into
two of the three events and slipped a GSMM member into the hall at the
one event that wasn't held on public land. When the volunteer we
slipped in asked Sen. Edwards if he would stop arresting patients, the
senator responded that to do so would be "irresponsible."

On August 24, Sen. Edwards' attempt to block our protest at a public
park in Keene, New Hampshire, backfired. One voter approached an
Edwards staffer and asked, "What are you afraid of?" Another --
unaffiliated with GSMM -- got up during the question-and-answer period
and asked, "Are there going to be supporters with the John Edwards
signs all along the campaign trail blocking access to other people
with dissenting views?" In response to this question, Edwards rewrote
the truth in order to excuse his actions, claiming that one of our
signs said "Edwards Hates Cancer Patients." At no time has GSMM ever
displayed such a sign.

The story of our encounters with Sen. Edwards and other New Hampshire
developments can be found on the GSMM Web site. Please visit
http://www.GraniteStaters.com/guide regularly.

If you support our New Hampshire plan, I would very much appreciate
your financial support -- see http://www.GraniteStaters.com/donate --
so that MPP does not run a deficit because of this campaign. Thank you
in advance for anything you can do to help.

Sincerely,

Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.

P.S. Please visit http://www.GraniteStaters.com/donate to make a
     financial donation to MPP's New Hampshire campaign, or mail a
     check to MPP at P.O. Box 77492, Washington, D.C. 20013. Thanks
     again for considering this request.

"Fuck The Drama Roll A Bomba"

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