WHEN VOTERS HAVE THEIR SAY - SORT OF

Sometimes voters can really screw things up for ideological
politicians. But elected officials get the last laugh. They can - and
do - derail the voters by throwing passed legislation into gridlock.

Take Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne's efforts, with support from
Gov. Jan Brewer, at shutting down Prop. 203, the legalization of
marijuana for medical use. Arizona voters had passed medical marijuana
initiatives twice, in 1996 and 1998, and this past November passed a
measure for tightly regulated medicinal provisions for patients with
debilitating diseases. We endorsed the measure in this space.

In May 2011, Horne and Brewer filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court,
asking the federal court to rule on the legality of their new state
law. That action essentially put the medical marijuana law on hold,
although the state still is handing out medical marijuana cards to
patients with qualifying diseases. Just this month, the U.S. Justice
Department basically told them to go away and listen to the voters.
"They have not alleged any actual injury to the interests of the
State," wrote the Justice Department, which recommends dismissing the
case. "The claim they present is not ripe for review, as they point to
no genuine threat that any state employee will face imminent
prosecution under federal law."

Voters take note. The legal wrangling is not unlike the recent
reinterpretation of Prescott's own Prop. 401. If the language is up
for scrutiny after voters passed it, why then was an incomplete
initiative allowed on the ballot in the first place? If Horne and
Brewer felt the state initiative violated federal law, why then did
they send it to the voters?

Horne on Monday took new steps against medicinal marijuana by taking
action to shut down four so-called cannabis clubs in Maricopa County
that charge a "membership fee."

We understand that the fee may violate the Arizona Medical Marijuana
Act, which states that caregivers can give pot to patients "if nothing
of value is transferred in return." Horne even indicated that had the
clubs not charged a fee, they would likely be compliant under the law.
And all Prop. 203 advocates ever wanted was a legal, regulated way to
get medicinal pot into the hands of those who need it.

Horne also acknowledged that the clubs have been providing medical
marijuana to patients with cancer and other diseases.

Just as the voters mandated. Imagine that.