Pubdate: Sat, 08 Nov 2014
Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal (NV)
Copyright: 2014 Las Vegas Review-Journal
Contact: http://www.reviewjournal.com/about/print/press/letterstoeditor.html
Website: http://www.lvrj.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/233
Author: Sean Whaley

RECREATIONAL POT INITIATIVE SAID TO TOP SIGNATURE GOAL

CARSON CITY - Backers of an initiative petition to legalize the 
recreational use of marijuana in Nevada said Friday they have 
collected far more than the required number of signatures to bring 
the measure to the ballot in 2016.

Joe Brezny with the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol said 
the group plans to turn in about 170,000 signatures to county clerks 
Wednesday. The group needs 101,667 signatures from registered Nevada 
voters to qualify the measure.

Brezny said he expects to have nearly two times the number of 
signatures needed in each of the state's four congressional districts.

The deadline for initiative petitions is Tuesday, but because that is 
Veterans Day and a state and federal holiday, Brezny said Wednesday 
is the deadline.

If the group is successful, the proposal to legalize recreational 
marijuana use for those age 21 or older will go to the 2015 
Legislature. If the Legislature fails to approve the proposal within 
the first 60 days of the session, the measure would go before Nevada 
voters in 2016.

The proposal is modeled after the recreational marijuana law approved 
by voters in Colorado in November 2012.

Brezny said when the petition was filed in April that internal 
polling from 2013 showed support among Nevada voters for legalization 
by a margin of 54 percent to 42 percent.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom