FREEDOM ALERT: 03-05-05 >> The Libertarian Party of Nevada supports IP 3, the initiative to decriminalize up to one ounce of marijuana for personal use in the privacy of the home.

Assembly Judiciary Committee

Assemblyman Bernie Anderson, Chair

The Libertarian Party of Nevada supports IP 3, the initiative to decriminalize up to one ounce of marijuana for personal use in the privacy of the home.

We urge the Nevada Legislature to pass the Initiative. What better state than Nevada is there to be a pioneer in restoring the freedom of the adult individual to use, medicinally or recreationally, a plant that has been used for thousands of years all over the world without fear of harassment by the state?

Nevada is well known for its tolerance of behaviors that do no harm to others but that could only harm the individuals indulging in them, if anyone is harmed at all. Nevada has been a haven over the years for those seeking to gamble, to pay for sexual favors, to get a quick divorce, to seek alternative medications. Nevada was one of the first states to pass concealed carry laws to strengthen the right of self protection. Nevada has no personal income tax.

Nevada has corrected itself when it has been deficient in its tolerance. It has, for example, shed its negative image as the “Mississippi of the West” because of its old attitude towards minorities.

Now Nevada once again has the chance to be a leader of the nation, even the world, in exhibiting this same spirit of classical liberal tolerance.

IP 3 addresses the concerns of Nevadans that those individuals who peacefully use marijuana, either medicinally or recreationally, in the privacy of their own homes, shall not be subject to punishment, civil or criminal, by the state.

IP 3 also addresses the concerns of Nevadans that the public at large is protected from any harm that may result from this new tolerance toward individual behavior.

IP 3 would establish a regulated system of production and sales of marijuana that would better protect minors from exposure to the drug than is the case with unregulated black markets. It would ensure that only those 21 or older can purchase the drug or even visit establishments that sell the drug.

IP 3 would severely punish anyone driving under the influence of marijuana who causes an accident on the road that results in death.

IP 3 would regulate and tax the production and distribution of marijuana so that we are assured the profits for the first time since the 1930’s are not going to organized crime, and that a percentage of them are going to be used by the public for drug rehabilitation and other worthwhile public uses.

Once again, the Libertarian Party of Nevada urges the Nevada Legislature pass IP 3. Nevada’s reputation as a beacon of personal liberty will be assured if you do. Its citizens will be safer, its children better protected from harm.

Brendan Trainor,

Chair, Libertarian Party of Nevada

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