Judge orders marijuana initiative to the legislature'on the ballot in 2006

In a major victory, Federal District Court Judge James Mahan issued an injunction that ordered Secretary of State Dean Heller to immediately send the Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana's (CRCM's) initiative petition to the legislature when it opens on February 7. The legislature will have 40 days to pass the initiative into law or to let it go before Nevada voters in November 2006.

The lawsuit stemmed from a ruling by Attorney General Brian Sandoval. Last September, CRCM began collecting signatures for its 2006 initiative and filed more than 69,000 valid signatures on November 9. As late as November 19, Heller said that an initiative would need only 51,337 valid signatures—a number based on the voter turnout for the 2002 general election—to qualify for the ballot. Yet on December 20, Sandoval issued an opinion indicating that CRCM was required to meet a massively higher signature target based on the November 2004 general election turnout—meaning that the initiative failed to qualify.

In his ruling, Judge Mahan said that Heller's processes and procedures are flawed, and that the 2002 general election figures should have applied, not those of the 2004 election. He further noted that Heller and Sandoval's decisions violated CRCM's due process and First Amendment rights.

To read more about the court case, visit:

http://regulatemarijuana.org/home/

The first leg of the battle is over. Now we need to gear up for what will be a tough and high-profile campaign. This is costly, and we'll need your help to win. To donate to MPP and CRCM's efforts to tax and regulate marijuana in Nevada, please visit:

http://regulatemarijuana.org/donate/index.php?ref=498

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