ARIZ. DRUG BACKERS BOW OUT

PHOENIX--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.