ARIZ. DRUG BACKERS BOW OUT

PHOENIX (AP) -- An advocacy group seeking to legalize marijuana for medical
use in Arizona has dropped its support for a ballot measure. The group, The
People Have Spoken, on Wednesday acknowledged a provision of the initiative
might prevent prosecution of medical marijuana users for drug trafficking
offenses.

"It's a legal mess. It's a great disappointment," said group spokesman Sam
Vagenas. The development follows criticism of the initiative by Maricopa
County Attorney Rick Romley and others that it would give medical marijuana
users immunity from prosecution for any state drug offense. The initiative
would ask voters to reduce penalties for possessing small amounts of
marijuana and have the state create a system to distribute marijuana for
medical use.

Other proposed changes include requiring immediate parole for some drug
offenders and mandating that assets seized from drug traffickers be used to
pay only for drug prevention and treatment and for gang intervention, not
general law enforcement.

Vagenas said the petition drive had more than the legal requirement for
101,762 signatures due by July 1, but he declined to state how many had
been collected. Supporters include New York billionaire George Soros and
University of Phoenix founder John Sperling, both of whom bankrolled
previous ballot campaigns in Arizona as well as other states.