Drug Czar's Office Reviewing Request for Report

[boulder]

A spokesman for the Office of National Drug Policy said Thursday it would be "silly" for Drug Czar John Walters to file campaign expenditure reports for speaking out against marijuana legalization in Nevada.

 

"Part of the job of the drug czar is to talk about the problem of drug abuse in America, which he feels would be worse with drug legalization," spokesman Tom Riley said. "He doesn't file a campaign statement in each state he goes to. That would be silly."

 

Riley said Walters has received a letter from Secretary of State Dean Heller in which he was asked to explain why he should not comply with the state's campaign contributions and expenditures law.

 

That law requires every person who advocates or opposes a ballot question in Nevada to submit reports detailing his contributions and expenditures.

 

Walters visited Nevada three times in the fall to speak out against Question 9, which would have allowed adults to possess as much as 3 ounces of marijuana in their homes. The ballot question failed by a 61 percent to 39 percent vote in the November election.

 

His office also ran many television commercials warning residents of the dangers of marijuana use.

 

Riley said staff lawyers are reviewing the Heller letter, and he does not know whether they will respond. Heller asked for a response by Jan. 27.

 

In a Wednesday interview, Deputy Secretary of State Susan Bilyeu speculated that a federal law or court decision might exempt Walters from the reporting law. People who do not submit the required information face $100-per-day fines.

 

Riley declined comment on whether there is a law or ruling that frees Walters from obeying the Nevada law.

 

"His job is to speak out on the harm of illegal drugs," Riley said. "He does it in every state and will continue to do it. He is not going to file a campaign statement in every state he goes to."

 

Heller sent the letter to Walters after receiving a complaint about the drug czar's failure to follow the law from the Marijuana Policy Project. The Washington-based organization was the parent organization of Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement, the group that campaigned for legal marijuana. It spent $1.8 million during the fall on the unsuccessful campaign to pass Question 9.

 

Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal (NV)

Author: Ed Vogel, Review-Journal Capital Bureau

Published: Friday, January 17, 2003

Copyright: 2003 Las Vegas Review-Journal

Contact: letters@lvrj.com

Website: http://www.lvrj.com/