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Nevadans: Say no to pot, raise minimum wage, restrict smoking
11-08-06 l Las Vegas Sun l Sandra Chereb

RENO, Nev. (AP) - Nevadans on Tuesday rejected selling legalized marijuana at state-sanctioned pot shops, approved the tougher of two competing anti-smoking measures, raised the minimum wage and took steps to curb government seizures of private property.

At the same time, voters denied a measure twice approved by the Legislature to pay lawmakers for every day they work, instead of capping salaries at the current 60-day limit.

Question 7, to legalize adult possession of up to 1 ounce of marijuana and require the state to set up procedures to tax and regulate its sale failed, 56 percent to 44 percent.

The dueling anti-smoking initiatives had different outcomes.

Polls showed early support for both anti-smoking measures slipping as Election Day approached, and proponents acknowledged voters seemed confused by similar ballot language.

Question 4, a business-backed initiative called the Responsibly Protect Nevadans from Second-Hand Smoke Act, would have imposed minimal restrictions on smoking in areas of bars and restaurants that allow children. It failed 52 percent to 48 percent.

Instead voters approved the Clean Indoor Air Act backed by public health groups. It bans smoking in any bars that serve meals, as well as in slot machine sections of grocery and convenience stores, video arcades, shopping malls, school grounds and day-care centers. Question 5, which still permits smoking in gambling areas of casinos, was approved 54 percent to 46 percent.

Voters gave final approval to setting Nevada's minimum wage $1 above the federal standard, currently $5.15 an hour, with 69 percent voting yes and 31 percent voting no. The measure, which provides an exemption for employers to offer health insurance, passed by a similar margin in 2004.

It also includes automatic cost-of-living increases based on inflation, capped at 3 percent a year, unless the federal government raises its minimum wage - something that hasn't happened since 1997.

A measure placing restrictions on government use of eminent domain was approved 63 percent to 37 percent. It will appear again on the ballot in 2008.

Another constitutional amendment requiring lawmakers to fund education before other state budgets also received final voter approval, 55 percent to 45 percent.

Two other proposed constitutional amendments passed by the 2003 and 2005 legislatures were put to voters and rejected.

One allowing state lawmakers to call themselves into special session failed 52 percent to 48 percent. Another reducing the size of the Board of Regents and changing how they are selected was narrowly defeated, 51 percent to 49 percent.

Voters also overwhelming amended the state's sales tax to exempt farm machinery while expanding exemptions for the trade-in value of used vehicles. That measure passed 69 percent to 31 percent.

While other states and local governments have decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana, the Nevada measure sponsored by the Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana went further. It directed the state Department of Taxation to set up procedures to license and regulate pot growers, distributors and retailers.

Backers argued law enforcement spends too much time and money arresting small-time dope smokers, and that legalizing marijuana would not only raise tax dollars for the state, but free officers to concentrate on more violent crimes.

Critics - including law enforcement, civic groups and the nation's drug czar - countered that marijuana is a gateway drug that could lead to harsher substances and negate anti-drug efforts.

Regardless, they argued that possession, sale and cultivation would still be illegal under federal law and likely not be tolerated by federal authorities.