POT ISSUE CLOSER TO STATE VOTE

A November marijuana showdown between the Maricopa County attorney and a
local billionaire is closer to reality.

The Senate on Tuesday approved House Concurrent Resolution 2013, which will
ask voters to allow judges to send first-time drug offenders to jail. The
measure, pushed by County Attorney Rick Romley, now goes to the ballot.

Romley wants to provide an alternative on the November ballot to an
initiative funded by University of Phoenix founder John Sperling. It would
decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana and allow
marijuana for medical purposes, with the supplies coming from Department of
Public Safety contraband.

Sperling and his supporters need to gather 101,762 signatures by July 4 to
get their initiative on the ballot.

If passed, Romley's referendum would tweak one of Sperling's initiatives
that was already passed into law. Romley said it also would likely override
the decriminalization portion of Sperling's initiative this year, even if
both measures passed.

Sam Vagenas, spokesman for the Sperling initiative campaign, said Romley's
measure is just a smokescreen to distract voters. If measures with
conflicting provisions both pass, the one with the most votes takes
precedence over any conflicting provisions in the other measure, said Mary
Jo Kief, assistant state elections director.