DON'T LET DPS DISPENSE POT, BUT DON'T IMPRISON USERS

Arizona voters will decide two ballot measures next month that deal with
drug use: Proposition 203 would legalize doctor-approved marijuana use and
Proposition 302 would give judges more authority to imprison drug users.
Both measures are flawed and should be rejected by voters.

The marijuana medicalization aspect of 203 is not what troubles us. Our
judicial system should not be imprisoning people who choose to smoke
marijuana. Indeed, that is why we oppose 302.

If Arizonans support legalizing the medical use of marijuana -- and they
have already approved two measures in recent years that move us in that
direction -- then it needs to be done right. A reasonable method would be
to incorporate marijuana into our existing system that distributes and
regulates prescription medications.

But Proposition 203 doesn't go that route. It turns our state police
agency, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, into a marijuana
procurement, testing and dispensing agency. Since DPS already confiscates
marijuana, Proposition 203 would also require it to test the pot for purity
and then dole it out in two-ounce packets to people who have a doctor's
permission slip.

The Department of Health Services would be in charge of keeping records of
who's eligible to receive the state-sponsored marijuana.

Because federal law conflicts with Proposition 203, the U.S. Department of
Justice would immediately block its implementation if it passes. Backers
know this, urging voters to approve it anyway to force a state-federal
showdown over legal and constitutional issues.

And if you buy that argument, you should vote for Proposition 203. But we
can't in good conscience support a flawed initiative because it has some
salient elements. Dispensing "medication" isn't remotely within the mission
of our state police agency.

That being said, it would be wrong to backpedal on the gains in drug
treatment that have been made since voters approved the first
medical-marijuana initiative in 1996. And that is what would happen if 302
passes. Prosecutors claim they need the threat of incarceration to ensure
drug offenders take their court-ordered treatment seriously. But the
purpose of our prison system should not be getting people to do what's good
for them.

Prisons, rather, should be used to confine those who've harmed others
physically or who've taken or damaged others' property.