Local News

Actions

NV campaign against legal pot launches with big-name support

Posted at 12:44 PM, Sep 16, 2016
and last updated 2016-09-16 19:09:57-04
A group is launching a formal campaign against legalizing recreational marijuana in Nevada, and is unveiling a list of heavy-hitting backers including Gov. Brian Sandoval and the Nevada casino industry's trade organization.
 
The group called Protecting Nevada's Children went live with a website on Friday in the first major push against Question 2, which will appear on the November ballot.
 
Officials declined to name their financial backers, saying that information would come out in mid-October when state campaign finance disclosures are due.
 
Opponents of the measure include Sen. Dean Heller, Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt, Lt. Gov. Mark Hutchison, Reps Joe Heck, Mark Amodei and Cresent Hardy, and the Nevada Resort Association.
 
Democratic Sen. Harry Reid and Senate candidate Catherine Cortez Masto have previously expressed opposition to the ballot measure.
 
The Yes on Question 2 group, the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, released a statement after the No on Question 2 launched:
 
"The coalition unveiled today stands in favor of the failed policy of marijuana prohibition. They stand in favor of drug cartels over regulated businesses. They stand in favor of drug dealers who don’t check IDs over store owners who do. And they stand in favor of steering adults toward alcohol use — which is associated with a wide variety of societal harms — over respecting their preference to use a safer substance. They have spent their lives believing that marijuana needs to be illegal and cannot grasp that a majority of Americans — and a majority of Nevadans — no longer do. This coalition can try to scare Nevadans into voting against Question 2, but any examination of demographic trends shows that they are on the wrong side of history in the long run."