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Nevada pot legalization: A lawmaker is going to introduce a pot legalization bill Friday, making Nevada the sixth state to consider legalization.
Marijuana plants grow at Perennial Holistic Wellness Center, a not-for-profit medical marijuana dispensary in operation since 2006, on Sept. 7, 2012 in Los Angeles, California.
A lawmaker in Nevada is going introduce legislation for the legalization of marijuana possession, it was reported Thursday.
Assemblyman Joe Hogan (D.-Las Vegas) is going to introduce the bill on Friday, reported the Las Vegas Sun.
“We’ve wasted a tremendous amount of money spoiling teenagers lives, chasing them around until we can arrest them for something,” Hogan was quoted as saying. “And marijuana is not just a harmless plant. The medical benefits are remarkable.”
It would make Nevada the sixth state to consider legalization of the substance.
Hogan said that he has never smoked marijuana, but he said keeping the plant criminalized is problematic.
He said that Nevada Assemblymen Andrew Martin and Paul Aizley also are sponsoring the measure.
“I’m really hopeful” the measure will pass, he said. “It would benefit a lot of people.”
Colorado and Washington were the first states to legalize marijuana last year.
Colorado currently is looking to come up with a plan on how to regulate the sale of marijuana for recreational use. The state has given the Revenue Department a July 1 deadline to draft rules for marijuana farming, distribution, and possession, reported Bloomberg News last week.
And Washington state has set a Dec. 1 deadline for simialar regulations.
“This is brand new and unprecedented,” Colorado state Rep. Dan Pabon, part of the state’s task force on the matter, told the news agency.
He added, “There’s not a lot of evidence we can look to, other than using deductive reasoning, to determine the best course.”
If marijuana is legalized around the United States, estimates say that the market could be worth between $10 billion and $120 billion per year, with an estimate of between $35 billion and $45 billion in taxes, Bloomberg said, citing data that it compiled.
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