MARIJUANA PROPOSITION HAS CITIES LOOKING AT ZONING

The possibility of marijuana dispensaries being legalized has the
city of Yuma working on zoning regulations just in case.

City spokesman Greg Hyland told the Yuma Sun that the Community
Development Department is working on zoning regulations, but stressed
that the public process is long.

"It's in the works, but it's way too early for details," Hyland said.

Arizona's top health official said he warns cities and counties to
get their zoning regulations in order - and soon.

State Health Director Will Humble said if voters approve Proposition
203 next month, it falls to him to approve the license requests for
the approximately 120 marijuana dispensaries that will be allowed to
open up around the state, as well as the sites each of them is using
to cultivate the crop.

The initiative, if approved, would allow anyone with a doctor's
recommendation to obtain up to 2-1/2 ounces of marijuana every two
weeks from one of the state-regulated dispensaries.

Humble said the only restriction in the voter initiative is that
these facilities can't be within 500 feet of a school. Other than
that, he said, he has to give the go-ahead if the proposed site meets
other legal requirements.

"If the city or town doesn't have the zoning restriction in place at
the time we receive our application, I've got no choice but to
approve that marijuana dispensary," he said. "It might be next to a
playground or a church or a park or someplace that the city's like,
'Are you kidding me, Department of Health Services, you let them have
the dispensary right next to our playground or our public pool?'"

Hyland said that as far as he knows, no one in Yuma is waiting to
apply for the zoning. "Personally, I have not heard of anyone
interested in opening (a dispensary)."

Humble said many of the larger communities already have started the
zoning review process. But they may not be moving fast enough.

He pointed out that Proposition 203 directs him to have the program
up and running four months after the Secretary of State's Office
certifies the ballot results.

That, he said, puts the deadline sometime in March. And Humble said
cities not only need to craft the new zoning regulations by then but
also have the legally necessary public hearings and have the changes
adopted by elected officials.

Humble said he also fears that officials in many smaller communities
are oblivious to the measure and may not have even started thinking
about the zoning issues.

Proponents of the measure, backed financially by the national
Marijuana Policy Project, say there are people with many medical
conditions that could benefit from being able to obtain and use the
drug. At the moment, though, that is not an option - at least not
legally - as possession of any amount of marijuana remains a felony.

That list includes glaucoma.

But that argument has taken a hit from the American Glaucoma Society
which issued a warning in its newsletters against sufferers from
treating their condition with marijuana.

On one hand, the warning concedes that marijuana does lower the
pressure within the eye. But the problem is that effect lasts for
only several hours, meaning that patients would need to use the drug
day and night.

"Failing to do so can lead to a rebound spike in eye pressure, which
can be damaging," the warning states. It also says that marijuana
lowers blood pressure, possibly leading to optic nerve damage.

Andrew Myers, who is coordinating the pro-203 campaign, said that
should not deter voters from approving the measure.

"A very small percentage of medical marijuana patients are glaucoma
patients," he said. And he said there are studies showing marijuana
is effective at treating the disease, with glaucoma patients
benefitting in other states where the drug already is legal.

Anyway, Myers said, there is no reason that marijuana "should be
available as a tool in a physician's tool kit" to deal with not just
glaucoma but other diseases.

The initiative also is taking hits from people like Pima County
Attorney Barbara LaWall. She said other states where marijuana has
been made legal for medical purposes have shown an increase in crime.
And much of that, she said, is related to the distribution system.

"Its primary effect will be to establish a system where drug seekers,
including addicts, can easily obtain recreational drugs and where
commercial marijuana dispensaries will become storefronts for dope
dealers," she said.

Myers countered that the Arizona law is different than the system in
other states, including California. Aside from the limit on the
number of dispensaries, he said they have to be non-profit operations
and there are background checks required on those who work there.

Humble's concerns go to the other end of the equation. He worries
about the creation of "marijuana medical mills ... where physicians
are handing out a marijuana recommendation in 15 minutes in exchange for $150."

The health director said he is exploring whether he has the legal
authority to put some constraints on physicians, perhaps with an
overall monthly limit on the number of recommendations they can issue.

One side issue in the debate is how the change in law will affect employers.

A provision in the initiative makes it illegal for an employer to
discipline or fire a worker who has a medical marijuana
recommendation solely because of a positive test result for the drug.

Myers said this provision was inserted because the test for marijuana
is different than for alcohol and most other drugs: It indicates only
residue in the body, not that someone is impaired. He said there is
no reason that someone who uses the drug on Sunday should be fired
because a test days later shows positive.

It does allow a worker to be disciplined for smoking on the job or
for being actually impaired.

But several attorneys who specialize in labor law said that latter
option would be difficult for employers to prove, leaving them
powerless to run drug-free workplaces.

At this point, the campaign for Proposition 203 is better financed
than any opposition. At last report it had $640,523 in donations,
most of that from the Marijuana Policy Project. Foes operating as
Keep Arizona Drug Free had collected just $6,685.