Pubdate: Mon, 23 Sep 2002
Source: Las Vegas Sun (NV)
Copyright: 2002 Las Vegas Sun, Inc
Contact:  http://www.lasvegassun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/234
Author: Erin Neff

NEW BREED OF VOTERS MAY STIR POT OF POLITICS

Marijuana initiative sparks teen registration

The politics of pot is usually relegated to the extremes, with libertarians
arguing for legalization, liberals asking for lighter sentences and social
conservatives viewing marijuana as a scourge on society.

But Question 9 -- a Nov. 5 ballot initiative asking voters to support legal
possession of up to 3 ounces of marijuana for private use -- has entered the
mainstream this election cycle.

A new breed of voter is registering for the first time and political parties
are at odds about whether the question will affect their candidates.

Already more than 100,000 registered voters signed the petition that put the
question on the ballot. And election officials and parents of teenagers are
noticing a spike in interest from a typically apathetic voting demographic
- -- 18- to 25-year-olds.

Clark County's Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax says that although specific
statistics on the number of teenagers registering to vote for the general
election are not kept, he has seen signs that Question 9 is motivating teens
to get involved.

"We did have a lot of young people, including some with green hair and nose
rings, that went through the field registrar's class and told us they were
there because of the marijuana initiative," Lomax said.

Eric Renninger, who will turn 18 three days before the election, was
motivated to register primarily because of Question 9.

"I wanted to have a say in that because I don't think government should tell
you what to do," said Renninger, a home-schooled Henderson student who
registered with the Green Party "because it's more liberal."

Billy Rogers, organizer of the initiative, said most of the people his
campaign's volunteers have registered to vote are 18 to 20 years old.

"Obviously with younger voters this initiative has resonance," Rogers said.

Political consultants and parties are also watching the initiative with
mixed opinions about whether it will affect other races and offset support
for the so-called protection of marriage initiative -- Question 2.

Question 2, which bans gay marriage, is supported by the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints, will likely draw conservative voters to the
polls and, it is thought, help Republican candidates.

"When it first started up there was a hope within the liberal community that
this would in some senses cancel out the support for Question 2," said Gary
Gray, a political consultant and husband of Assemblywoman Chris
Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, who sponsored a medical marijuana bill.

"The feedback we're hearing is that this is an issue that does not seem to
be identified with liberals or conservatives," Gray said. "It seems not to
have an ideological drive to it, but rather a pragmatic one about a
referendum on the war on the drugs."

State Republican Party Chairman Bob Seale said Question 2 -- which received
more than 60 percent of the vote when it was first on the ballot in 2000 --
will definitely help his party's candidates.

"I think that there are some people who feel strongly enough about it that
it will pull Republican voters to the polls," Seale said.

But Seale said he doesn't know whether Question 9 will offset Question 2.

Part of the reason Seale and his Democratic counterpart, Terry Care, aren't
following the marijuana initiative more closely is that most candidates have
either declined to comment on the initiative or have expressed opposition to
it.

Another reason is that an August poll showed decreasing support for Question
9 after an initial poll suggested the measure had sizeable backing.

As a result of those polls, Care -- the state Democratic Party chairman --
said he did not think the initiative would "favor one party over the other."

But Nevada Libertarian Party Chairman Brendan Trainor, a congressional
candidate in District 2, said he thought the initiative could help his
party's statewide candidates pick up more votes.

"Up here in the north we've been more directly involved in the initiative,"
Trainor said from his Reno office. "We worked to get it put on the ballot,
and of course it fits right into our philosophy."

The only regret Trainor has is that the initiative "isn't quite libertarian
enough."

Nevada has about 4,500 registered Libertarians, putting the party after
Republicans, Democrats and Independent Americans in terms of registered
voters, although non-partisans number 116,000.

The Independent American Party, which has 14,500 registered voters, is made
up of strict constitutionalists who favor less government and fewer taxes.
But the party is also socially conservative, opposing abortion and gay
rights.

The party has not taken an official position on the question, and some
believe IAP voters will be torn between their less-government and anti-drug
beliefs.

"When I saw the drug czar was coming to the state of Nevada to tell us how
to vote, I changed my mind on the issue," said Joel Hansen, an IAP candidate
for Clark County district attorney. "I think it's bad to smoke marijuana,
but I think that our resources should be spent combating violent crime."

David Damore, a political science professor at the University of Nevada, Las
Vegas, says he thinks the initiative will be decided by those with a
tradition of voting.

"Teens historically have the lowest percentage of voter registration and
voter participation," Damore said. "I'm not sure they're going to be able to
overcome that."

J.J. Buchanan, vice president of the Young Democrats at UNLV, agreed, saying
he has not seen a groundswell of support for the issue on campus.

"I know that a lot of people in my age demographic don't vote," said
Buchanan, 22, who ran unsuccessfully in the Sept. 3 primary for the
Assembly. "On the UNLV campus, it's general apathy and it's tough to get
them interested."

Sarah Jaffa, volunteer coordinator for Question 9, said her volunteers
understand that dynamic and are concentrating their field efforts on
existing voters.

"We're registering people from all backgrounds and beliefs," Jaffa said.
"We're not focusing on registering young people. We're making sure existing
voters come out and vote."

Voter registration for the general election ends Oct. 5, but there are some
signs that those who registered prior to the primary have already made an
effort to vote on the issue.

"We had a lot of people who came up to us in the primary and asked if they
could vote on the marijuana initiative that day," Lomax said.
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MAP posted-by: Josh