Pubdate: Wed, 13 Jul 2016
Source: Arizona Republic (Phoenix, AZ)
Copyright: 2016 The Arizona Republic
Contact: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/sendaletter.html
Website: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/24
Author: Laurie Roberts

BALLOT, NOT COURT, IS RIGHT AVENUE FOR MARIJUANA DECISION

Opponents of legalizing the recreational use of marijuana in Arizona 
have filed a lawsuit, hoping to keep the proposal off the November 
ballot. Put another way, opponents of legalizing weed don't trust 
Arizona voters to do the right thing.

So their play is to run to court to make sure you never get that chance.

Whether you support legalizing marijuana or not, consider yourself 
slapped smack in the face.

In Arizona, we have a constitutional right to make laws by voter 
initiative. Or, to veto laws by referendum as is being attempted now 
in an effort to stop our leaders from opening the floodgates to even 
more dark money in this state. The people who founded this state made 
sure of it.

Now the people who have organized to fight against legalizing 
marijuana are trying to strip you of that constitutional right to 
initiate laws.

In its lawsuit, the group claims the summary of the proposal - the 
one printed on petitions -is misleading because it conceals much of 
what the initiative does, including changes that would weaken the 
state's DUI laws and impact employment and child-custody laws.

As if you could explain everything that this 38-page initiative does 
in the 100 words allowed by Arizona law.

Courts have ruled that not every provision of the measure must be 
covered in those 100 words.

Still, opponents, including Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery, 
Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk and the Arizona Chamber of 
Commerce and Industry, believe the initiative summary is "incomplete 
and materially misleading."

And not only that, they say, it unconstitutionally allows existing 
medical marijuana dispensaries the first shot at opening marijuana 
stores that initially would be allowed.

Indeed, it does give dibs to the current pot lobby. Of course, it 
gives dibs to the current pot lobby. There is, after all, money to be 
made and it's the pot lobby's initiative.

Did you think the owners of the medical marijuana dispensaries were 
going to allow others to muscle in on the action?

This initiative may be a violation of the gift clause in the state 
Constitution, as Montgomery contends.

But those are arguments to be made during the campaign, or in a legal 
challenge after the proposition becomes law - if the proposition becomes law.

Me? I don't think we should legalize marijuana, or that we will.

Not until there's a definitive study that says it's not harmful to 
kids. Not until we've seen the long-term effects in Colorado and the 
three other states that have embraced dope.

But that's not Bill Montgomery's call or even the Arizona Chamber of 
Commerce's call (much to their chagrin, I'm sure).

It's our call. It became so the minute 258,582 Arizonans signed 
petitions to put it on the ballot.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom