A group of marijuana advocates in Nevada has launched a petition drive to place a cannabis legalization bill on the 2016 ballot.
Led by state Sen. Tick Segerblom and marijuana advocate Joe Brezny, the group kicked off the drive on Tuesday in Las Vegas.
Supporters must obtain 101,667 signatures by Nov. 11. If they succeed, legislators in 2015 could approve or reject the petition. If they reject it, which is expected, then the measure would become a ballot question for voters to decide in 2016.
Brezny, the former executive director of the Republican senate caucus and Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign director for the state, said the legalization measure is modeled after Colorado’s Amendment 64, which legalized marijuana for recreational purposes.
Supporters said the market could be as big – or even larger – than the one in Colorado, in large part because of the huge numbers of tourists who visit Nevada each year.
The proposal allows for medical marijuana businesses to continue but would let anyone 21 and over possess up to an ounce of marijuana. It would enact a 15% wholesale tax on marijuana sales, and the revenue would help fund schools.
The group is working with the Marijuana Policy Project on the petition.
