CARSON CITY, NEV. ? In Nevada, they love gambling and tolerate prostitution. Now they are talking about legalizing marijuana.

A measure on the ballot Nov. 5 would make Nevada the first state to allow adults to possess marijuana up to 3 ounces, enough for maybe 100 joints.

Peggy Haney, 72, right, a Las Vegas grandmother of seven, rolls a fake marijuana cigarette at the Stop DUI headquarters in Las Vegas. The group is opposed to Nevada's question nine on the November ballot which would decriminalize the possession of up to three ounces of the drug. The fake cigarettes will be used as visual tools to demonstrate what three ounces of marijuana looks like.

People over 21 would be allowed to smoke it in their homes but not in cars or public places. Pot would be sold in state-licensed smoke shops and taxed like cigarettes.

“This initiative will allow the police to spend more time going after murderers, rapists and other violent criminals,” said Billy Rogers, leader of the group that is pushing the measure.

Whether it could actually take effect is unclear. Federal law bans marijuana possession, and the White House has come out strongly against the idea. Also, Nevada voters would have to approve the proposal again in 2004 before it became law.

Nevada, home of the nation’s gambling capital, has long had a fondness for what others forbid. Although prostitution is banned in Las Vegas, Reno, Carson City and in 49 states it is legal in 10 of Nevada’s 17 counties. The 30 licensed brothels in the state are monitored by the state Health Division. In addition, Las Vegas has a multitude of outcall entertainment services that are thought to be fronts for call-girl businesses.

But the vote on marijuana represents a remarkable about-face in Nevada’s attitudes toward marijuana.

A year ago, Nevada had one of the nation’s strictest marijuana laws. Possession of a single joint was a felony punishable by a year or more in prison.

In 2000, Nevada voters approved the use of medical marijuana, and the Legislature voted in 2001 to make possession of less than an ounce of marijuana a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Opinion polls on the marijuana measure show Nevadans almost evenly split, with opponents gaining ground.

“What message are we sending our youth if this initiative passes? That it’s OK to take drugs?” said school counselor Teresa Jempsa. “If marijuana becomes legal, then what drug is next?”

The plan was put on the November ballot after the group led by Rogers, Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement, gathered the necessary 75,000 signatures.