Pubdate: Sun, 16 Jun 2013
Source: Arizona Daily Sun (AZ)
Copyright: 2013 Arizona Daily Sun
Contact: http://news.azdailysun.com/opinion/letter_submit.cfm
Website: http://www.azdailysun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1906
Author: Howard Fischer

MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION SIGNATURE DRIVE LAUNCHED IN ARIZONA

PHOENIX - Voters who have seen how medical marijuana works in Arizona
may get a chance to extend the ability to use the drug to all other
adults.

Proponents of legalization filed the necessary paperwork Wednesday to
start gathering the 259,213 signatures they need to put the issue of
legalization on the 2014 ballot. They have through July 3, 2014.

The proposed constitutional amendment would do more than allow both
the possession of marijuana and its sale at retail outlets.

It also would alter drunk-driving laws so that the mere presence of a
metabolite of the drug in a motorist's system is not, by itself, proof
the person was legally impaired. Instead, it would be one bit of
evidence that could be offered -- but legally insufficient without a
video of any field sobriety tests.

Robert Clark, chairman of the Safer Arizona Committee which is pushing
the measure, said this is particularly important, as metabolites of
marijuana remain in the blood for a long period after someone has used
the drug.

Dennis Bohlke, treasurer of the campaign, tried a similar campaign for
the 2010 ballot, proposing to make the possession of up to four ounces
of marijuana a petty offense, punishable by only a $300 fine. But he
gave up after his plan wound up in competition with the Arizona
Medical Marijuana Act which eventually was approved by voters.

This new measure is actually far more expansive than Bohlke's 2010
effort, with marijuana possession and sale to adults actually
legalized. The only role of the state and local governments would be
to regulate it, as it does alcohol, with Arizona entitled to collect a
15 percent excise tax on purchases as well as state and local sales
taxes.

Bohlke acknowledged that the medical marijuana initiative was approved
by just a narrow margin, actually going down to defeat in 12 of the
state's 15 counties. But he said even his far more expansive proposal
for outright legalization should have no problem getting approved.

"Three years has made a big difference," he said, saying polls show
more people support legalizing marijuana now than when he made his
first proposal. And Bohlke pointed out that voters in Colorado and
Washington have since made marijuana possession legal.

All that, however, presumes Clark and Bohlke can get the measure on
the ballot.

At this point they are waging what they say is a "grassroots" efforts,
meaning they have no money for paid circulators. But Clark said they
have been promised financial support from national groups for the
actual campaign if he can manage to get the necessary signatures.

The change in drunk-driving laws alone would be significant.

In a ruling earlier this year, the Arizona Court of Appeals upheld
existing laws which say the presence of any metabolite of marijuana in
a motorist's blood, in any amount, is sufficient to sustain a charge
of driving under the influence of drugs, a variant of state DUI laws.
Clark said that's not fair.

"There's no correlation between the amount of cannaboids in your
system and impairment," he said. Clark said it can vary among
individuals based on how much they've used and how long they have been
using the drug.

"We're not advocating for people to go out there and smoke cannabis
while they're driving and endanger somebody else," he said. "But we
want to also be fair and not set up ways for the state to continue to
fill our jails up and our prisons up with people that are using cannabis."

For Bohlke, the issue is more than academic. He said he has charged by
Scottsdale police with driving under the influence of drugs based on
the presence of metabolites in his blood.
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MAP posted-by: Matt