PROP. 203 WOULD GET POT TO THOSE WHO NEED IT

Our view: The initiative would help people suffering from AIDS,
chronic pain or the side effects of chemo - not cause crime to rise

Arizona voters have twice approved the use of marijuana for medical
purposes. It's back on the ballot for a third time as Prop. 203.

We recommend a "yes" vote on Prop. 203.

The law has never gone into effect because the proposition language
was too broad and because the federal Drug Enforcement Administration
warned that it would prosecute any "prescription" under the federal
Controlled Substances Act.

Maybe the third time's the charm. The language of the initiative has
been polished.

And, for the record, the Obama administration, which is focusing on
criminal drug-enforcement efforts, last year sent a memo encouraging
federal prosecutors not to prosecute those who distribute marijuana
"in accordance with state law."

Prop. 203 would allow doctors to recommend that patients with certain
specific conditions receive a card from the state Department of Health
Services authorizing them to buy up to 2 1/2 ounces of marijuana every
two weeks from a state-regulated, nonprofit dispensary.

The initiative would permit only a total of 120 nonprofit dispensaries
in the entire state; each one could grow an unlimited amount of
marijuana on site and at one other location.

The conditions Prop. 203 specifically lists that can be treated with
medical marijuana include AIDS and HIV, side effects of chemotherapy
treatments and chronic pain.

Opponents of Prop. 203 say California's law, enacted in 1996, and its
medical-marijuana dispensaries have spawned illegitimate dispensaries
and a wave of related crime. Five Arizona county sheriffs, including
Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, and nine county attorneys,
including Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall, filed a statement with
the Secretary of State's Office opposing Prop. 203. Their bottom-line
objection is that increased availability of marijuana "worsens crime
problems and puts public safety severely at risk. Pot shops are
targeted by robbers, and increased crime, drug abuse,
marijuana-impaired drivers and vehicular fatalities involving
marijuana use flourish."

We regard this position as overstated and alarmist. Dispensaries in
Arizona would be more limited in number, and they would be
state-regulated. And the people holding cards authorizing their use of
medical marijuana would be patients, not criminals.

Proponents respond that Arizona's plan more restrictive than the laws
in California and Colorado, allowing fewer dispensaries, limiting the
conditions for which marijuana could be used, and requiring patients
to register with the state.

It also would provide for a database to help assure that patients
don't dispensary-hop to get more marijuana than what is medically indicated.

On Prop. 203, Arizona voters already have spoken, and repeatedly. Vote
"yes" again: Suffering patients must have access to every viable
option for treatment, including medical marijuana.