203 WOULD MANDATE FINES FOR POT SMOKERS

The initiative will save state millions by keeping harmless users out of
jail, proponents say; foes say passage will let drug abuse flourish

Marijuana smokers in Arizona risk criminal charges, but that could change
in November.

Proposition 203 asks voters to decide whether possessing small amounts of
pot should be reduced to a civil offense similar to a traffic ticket.

The initiative also would make it harder for a court to send someone to
prison for using any controlled substance, and it includes a controversial
plan for state police to distribute free marijuana to sick people.

A competing initiative, Proposition 302, would toughen penalties for
convicted drug users who refuse treatment.

Despite the many facets of Proposition 203, the image of cops handing
baggies of pot to patients is grabbing the most attention.

"Free Pot? Dumb Idea," read campaign signs hung around Tucson by the bill's
opponents.

Police vow they won't take part in any such program, even if 203 passes.

Supporters say police are missing the big picture.

"This is a referendum on the war on drugs," said Sam Vagenas, a former
deputy secretary of state and a spokesman for Proposition 203 supporters.
"Drug use has actually gone up since we started the drug war."

Proposition 203 is partly the result of unfinished business between the
state's law-enforcement establishment and a handful of wealthy reformers
from around the country.

Like a successful 1996 marijuana initiative, this initiative is being
generously bankrolled by three people: Phoenix entrepreneur John Sperling,
New York financier George Soros and Cleveland businessman Peter Lewis.

The trio have donated a combined $840,000 to a campaign committee known as
"The People Have Spoken."

They claim their law will help sick people and save Arizona millions of
dollars by keeping harmless drug users out of jail.

Opponents such as Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley argue that passage
of the law would cause drug abuse to flourish.

"Their objective is to incrementally move toward legalization of drugs,"
Romley said. "What does this tell our children?"

In 1996, two-thirds of Arizona voters passed Proposition 200, which
approved medical marijuana with a doctor's prescription and made many
low-level drug users eligible for probation instead of jail.

Voters later shot down two efforts by the Legislature that would have
repealed parts of the 1996 law.

Even so, those votes didn't achieve the desired results for Soros and
company. The federal government threatened to punish any Arizona doctor who
prescribed marijuana, and prosecutors invoked drug- paraphernalia laws to
put drug users in jail, Vagenas said.

If Proposition 203 passes, Arizona will join four other states - Maine,
Nebraska, New York and Ohio - in making pot possession a civil offense.

Under the proposed law, someone caught with less than two ounces of pot for
personal use would be subject to a $250 fine. Possession of paraphernalia -
such as pipes and rolling papers - and two or fewer marijuana plants also
would become a civil offense. After two offenses, the fine would go up to $750.

The state couldn't seize a drug offender's property unless the person was
convicted and the property was directly linked to the crime. Mandatory
minimum sentences for drug offenses would vanish, but the maximum sentence
for drug-related violent crimes would increase 50 percent.

A person caught with small amounts of any controlled substance - whether
it's heroin, cocaine or Ecstasy - or its paraphernalia would receive
probation for a first and second offense, as long as the drug wasn't for sale.

Under the proposition, drug users wouldn't face jail time unless they were
convicted of possession three times and each time violated probation by
refusing drug treatment.

Proposition 302, the competing bill supported by Romley and others, would
allow courts to put first-time offenders in jail if they refused treatment.

Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws Foundation, said Soros, Sperling and Lewis are
"taking another bite at the apple."

"They see the polling. They see the focus groups. I think they just tried
to tighten this up as much as they can and not leave any doubt," he said.

Some legalization advocates, however, doubt whether votes will go for
Proposition 203, because they see the "free pot" plan as a ham-handed scheme.

"If I was working for the enemy and wanted to draft some kind of
legalization plan that would be the worst kind, that's what I would draft,"
said Tucsonan Joe Duarte, a Libertarian candidate for Congress in Arizona's
8th District.

"They'd get a lot more votes if they just said, 'Arizona's going to
legalize marijuana. Go home.'"

Proposition 203 dictates that when cops are done with using confiscated pot
for evidence, they must package it and store it in secure public buildings
in Pima, Maricopa and Pinal counties.

People who could prove they had a doctor's recommendation - not a
prescription - could then flash a medical-registry card and receive up to
two ounces of free marijuana per month.

Fat chance, says Frank Valenzuela, a spokesman for the Department of Public
Safety.

He said that even if his agency had enough money to set up cannabis kiosks,
it wouldn't, because federal law prohibits it.

Valenzuela also pointed out that the law doesn't explicitly require police
to test the marijuana for impurities before it is given away.

"The stuff we collect is collected under the crudest circumstances," he
said. "It's usually stashed in pickup trucks. It's stashed in hidden
compartments in the back of semi trucks. It's stashed in homes that people
would never enter for health reasons."

Vagenas argues that there's a precedent. In the 1980s, law-enforcement
agencies gave confiscated marijuana to research institutions, which
distributed the pot to patients for clinical trials, he said.

Vagenas also said that there's no better agency to distribute marijuana
than the police, and that police would test pot for impurities before
giving it away.

Law officers are having a field day with the free-pot plan. At a recent
news conference in Tucson, County Attorney Barbara LaWall dumped 200 fake
marijuana cigarettes on the floor and warned that police could soon become
the biggest drug dealers in the state.

Romley admitted there would be some benefits if the law passed, but not
enough to outweigh its dangers.

"You won't have the problems with dealers. That one I'll give you," he
said. "You need to start looking at the bigger picture. Their argument is
that if you legalize drugs, that somehow we're going to have less drug
abuse. That's an intellectual non sequitur."

PROPOSITIONS 203, 302: A CLOSER LOOK:

Proposition 203

Decriminalizes possession of two ounces or less of marijuana for personal use.

Prohibits courts from sending low-level drug offenders to jail unless
they're convicted three times and each time refuse drug education or treatment.

Requires the Department of Public Safety to distribute confiscated
marijuana free to patients who can prove they have a doctor's
recommendation. If the amount of confiscated marijuana isn't enough, the
state is required to request quarterly shipments of marijuana grown for the
federal government at the University of Mississippi and to ensure the safe
shipment of the marijuana to Arizona.

Increases by 50 percent the maximum sentence for people who commit violent
crimes under the influence of illegal drugs.

Prohibits courts from seizing drug offenders' assets unless the person is
convicted and the assets can be linked directly to the crime. The law
doesn't hamper temporary seizure of criminal evidence.

Requires drug offenders currently in jail for personal possession to be
paroled or placed on community supervision, unless they've previously been
convicted of a violent crime or are in jail for other offenses.

Supporters: Most of the money for Proposition 203 is coming from a trio of
wealthy businessmen - John Sperling, George Soros and Peter Lewis. Other
supporters include former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods, independent
gubernatorial candidate Dick Mahoney, and Phoenix resident John Norton, a
former deputy U.S. secretary of Agriculture.

Opponents: Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik and County Attorney Barbara
LaWall, Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley, Tucson auto dealer Jim Click.

Proposition 302

Allows courts to put first-time drug-possession offenders in jail if they
refuse court-ordered treatment. The law applies to all controlled
substances, not just marijuana.

Supporters: Romley, Phoenix Mayor Skip Rimsza, Viad Corp. (Phoenix- based
business-services firm), Arizona County Attorney and Sheriff's Association.

Opponents: Sperling, Soros, Lewis, Woods, Mahoney, Norton.

Medical marijuana benefits

Supporters of medical marijuana say the drug can help relieve all of the
following ailments:

Nerve damage pain

Nausea

Spasticity

Glaucoma

Movement disorders

Loss of appetite associated with AIDS or dementia

Legalization opponents such as Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley say
that the risks of smoking marijuana outweigh potential benefits.

"We know pot gives you the munchies. Yes, I have sympathy for that. You eat
a little better, but you die a little faster," he said.