IGNORE THE HYPE; EXAMINE THE FACTS

Editor:

Supporters of Proposition 203, the medical marijuana initiative, would
like you to ignore the facts that are in the initiative and focus on
arguments of whether pot has medical value. The debate over prop 203
has nothing to do with pot's potential medical benefits. The debate
needs to stay focused on the problems that will be created by this
initiative, if it is passed on Nov. 2.

Hype: Supporters of prop 203 say MATForce denies the possible benefits of
marijuana for medical use.

Fact: MATForce has never made any public claims for or against the
potential medical benefits derived from marijuana. If you read any of our
publications, you will see we only discuss the issues brought out by the
proposition.

Hype: Supporters of prop 203 say the initiative is worded to help avoid
abuse and get treatment to those who need it.

Fact: Of the 14 states that currently have medical marijuana laws; all have
seen abuse of these laws. The term "chronic pain" is the most commonly
listed "patient" complaint. This is an ambiguous term, at best, and
difficult to prove. According to Matt Labash, in the October 11, 2010 issue
of The Weekly Standard, in Oregon, of the "33,000 medical users, 29,500 are
being treated for pain." To pretend that this initiative will not be abused
in Arizona ignores the obvious.

Hype: Kids of all ages need to have access to medical marijuana.

Fact: There is no age limit in prop 203 for minors. A parent or guardian
could buy five ounces of pot, a month, for their child no matter how old
they are. This happened in Montana, a 2 year old was given a medical
marijuana card. See The Billings Outpost, Emerald Gilleran, and Medical
Marijuana.

Hype: Five ounces of marijuana a month, per patient, is a reasonable amount
for one person to consume, most "patients" will cook with it.

Fact: There may be a small percentage of card holders that cook with pot
but lets be realistic, the preferred method of using pot, is smoking it.
For one person to try and smoke that much weed by themselves would be very
difficult. Once you accumulate more weed than you can use, what happens to
the extra product? Abuse.

Read Proposition 203, learn the facts, and then vote "No" on prop 203,
on November 2nd.

Ivan Anderson

FF/Paramedic

Volunteer, MATForce