Return to the good old days? Not really

CARSON CITY

For years, I’ve heard people complain about how all the newcomers to Nevada were ruining the place, robbing it of the libertarian, Old West ethos of yesteryear.

But after Thursday, I got a glimpse of the old Nevada.

The Senate Judiciary Committee passed a bill that would allow medical marijuana dispensaries in the state, finally fulfilling the wishes of voters in 1998 and 2000. The constitutional amendment that authorized medical pot more than a decade ago ordered the Legislature to provide a system whereby patients could get their medicine, but the Legislature never did.

Until Thursday, that is. If the Senate and Assembly approve the measure, and if the governor signs it, people holding medical prescriptions for marijuana won’t have to fear arrest by simply trying to get a drug the state says they’re constitutionally authorized to have.

Then the Senate Legislative Operations and Elections Committee passed a resolution that would not only repeal the ban on gay marriage that voters inserted into the state constitution in 2000 and 2002, but legalize gay marriage outright.

Under a last-minute amendment, the state would “recognize marriages and issue marriage licenses to couples, regardless of gender” as well as accept “all legally valid marriages.”

If approved by the Legislature this year and again in 2015, the measure will go to the voters in 2016.

Originally, the plan was simply to delete the prohibition on gay marriage from the constitution, an idea that even captured the fancy of some conservative Republicans. But that approach would not have legalized gay marriage in the Silver State. Indeed, state law still defines marriage as between a man and a woman.

But as revised, Nevada voters may get the chance to erase the gay marriage ban, moot current state law and allow gay couples to marry, all in one fell swoop. (That is, if a court doesn’t do the job first.)

It’s tempting to see a return of the live-and-let-live, rugged individualism of the past in these actions, but we shouldn’t get carried away.

After all, a bill to legalize marijuana outright looks like it’s dead this session. Another bill to allow people to carry concealed weapons without having to get a permit looks equally dead. People won’t be able to carry concealed weapons on university or community college campuses anytime soon. The legislative sponsor of a bill to allow people to ride motorcycles without helmets withdrew the measure. A search for bills related to homeowners associations on the Legislature’s website comes up with a score of references in various bills. An effort to repeal Nevada’s obstreperous threat to withdraw from the Tahoe Regional Planning Compact advanced from the Senate Natural Resources Committee. And last week, the Senate Legislative Operations and Elections Committee passed a bill that would see the Legislature start meeting in annual sessions.

In other words, we’re not going back to the libertarian Wild West anytime soon.

But even if we did, it would hardly be revolutionary. Other states have gone beyond simple medical marijuana and voted to legalize marijuana for recreational use outright. They’ve legalized gay marriage and are reaping the benefits of tourism dollars as a result. Other states have done away with the need for a permit to carry a concealed weapon, or never enacted such a rule in the first place.

And, as ever, those changes have come from the people, not their elected leaders. It’s only after polls showed issues such as gay marriage and marijuana legalization (and, on the other side, more stringent gun control) getting majority support did elected officials endorse them. It’s helpful to understand that while we call them our leaders, most elected officials are really ardent followers of the will of the majority.

And that’s why the good old Nevada is gone for good, if it ever really existed at all.

Steve Sebelius is a Review-Journal political columnist and author of the blog SlashPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter (@SteveSebelius) or reach him at (702) 387-5276 or ssebelius@reviewjournal.com.