THE WEED IN ARIZONA'S REPUBLICAN GARDEN

Republicans won big on election night. But politicians lost.

At the same time that Arizona voters swept in a Republican governor
and a veto-proof number of Republican legislators, they told the
politicians that they couldn't have the money they'd asked for in
Propositions 301 and 302, and told them as well that they couldn't
keep suffering people from using marijuana.

Like all politicians, the folks now in office will praise voters for
having the wisdom to elect them and then claim that those same voters
were "fooled" into approving something like medical marijuana.

That's why Andrew Myers of the Arizona Medical Marijuana Policy
Project told me this week, "Now the hard work begins."

After the election results are certified at the end of the month, the
state has 120 days produce standards and rules for patients and to
set up an electronic database that will track medical-marijuana users
and dispensaries. There eventually will be 125 dispensaries in the state.

That work will be overseen by Arizona Department of Health Services
Director Will Humble, who did not support the proposition.

Still, Myers said, "Dr. Humble could have made himself the poster
child for the opposition during the campaign and he didn't. He's been
a true professional throughout the campaign and we're confident that
the department will do something we can all be proud of."

Myers isn't so confident about the proposition's opponents in the legislature.

"Obviously we are going to face some stiff resistance legislatively,"
Myers said. "I expect that Sen. Russell Pearce will get creative
because he's said as much."

Pearce publicly opposed the proposition.

One of the major concerns expressed by opponents is that a diagnosis
of "chronic pain" will lead to abuse of the system by doctors and patients.

Humble told a reporter, "If we have a loose interpretation of what a
doctor-patient relationship is ... you could end up with situations
like they have in Colorado where folks are walking into a doctor's
office for a 15-minute appointment and $150 bucks on the barrelhead,
they're walking away with a recommendation."

Myers said that his organization will help to prevent such a
situation from developing.

"Our goals are the same," he told me. "There is a right way and a
wrong way to do this and we want to do it the right way."

Nothing is going to happen quickly. There's no way to know yet how
many applications the state will receive for the 125 dispensaries or
how long it will take to process them.

Particularly at a time when the state's budget is in the tank.

"We're sympathetic to the state's situation," Myers said. "They're
understaffed. State government is broke. We know these things. And we
have said all along that we stand ready to assist in anyway they might need.

"We have a team of professionals who are willing to help in anyway
the state might need. Technical professionals. Whatever. We can
provide that assistance."

Given the time to process identification cards for patients and for
certified dispensaries to get up and running Myers doesn't see a
fully functioning system until this time next year or later. Still,
he looks forward to Arizona's program becoming a national standard.

Outsiders find that odd, and often ask Myers how a state that elected
so many staunchly conservative Republicans could also approve medical
marijuana.

"It's simple," he tells them. "The people are not the legislature."