Pubdate: Mon, 27 Sep 2010
Source: Verde Independent (AZ)
Copyright: 2010 Western News & Info, Inc
Contact: http://verdenews.com/Formlayout.asp?formcall=userform&form=1
Website: http://verdenews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4433
Author: Doug Hebert

PROPOSITION 203 WILL PUT EVERY ARIZONAN AT RISK

Editor:

Even supporters of medical marijuana should find Proposition 203
dishonest.

It's a Trojan horse; they say it's only for diseases like cancer, AIDS
and glaucoma, however:

In Montana and California, only 2-3 percent of medical marijuana
patients have serious illnesses. The rest are mostly under age 40,
often exaggerating or faking problems.

Proposition 203 legalizes marijuana for kids, with parental
permission, which many give so their children won't be arrested.
States with medical marijuana laws have the highest rates of teenage
drug use in the nation.

Proposition 203 removes the authority of the police, prosecutors,
courts, medical licensing boards and employers.

It legalizes drugged driving. You can pilot an airplane, navigate a
boat, or drive an automobile and cannot be charged with DUI if you
only have marijuana metabolites in your system. But there's no
definition of acceptable blood levels. Lawsuits over acceptable levels
will drag on for years, and until they're settled, anything goes.

The definition of "severe and intractable pain" is wide open. In
Montana, 90 percent of marijuana patients claim pain, and it can be
anything, from a knee injury to occasional headaches. Unethical
doctors have set up marijuana practices, handing out marijuana cards
to anyone with $150, and licensing boards can't touch them.

Employers can't refuse to hire marijuana cardholders, even for child
care or to operate heavy equipment. And they can't fire them or send
them home if they come to work high. Drug-free workplace rules no
longer apply.

If marijuana cardholders live 25 miles from any dispensary, they can
grow their own, up to 36 pounds per year. Landlords can't stop them.

In California, marijuana dispensaries have brought increased crime
to neighborhoods including assaults, burglaries, robberies, drug
trafficking, murders, and gang infiltration. Proposition 203 will put
every Arizonan at risk.

Doug Hebert

Steering Committee Member

Keep Arizona Drug Free
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MAP posted-by: Matt