PROP. 203: THE DEBATE OVER POT LAWS

Joe Garagiola, Jr.
Arizona Republic
Sunday, 25 August, 2002

Free pot could be as close as your local Department of Public Safety precinct if Proposition 203 is passed by Arizona voters on Nov. 5. University of Phoenix founder John Sperling, billionaire New Yorker George Soros and insurance executive Peter Lewis have promoted this proposition in an effort to not only decriminalize the use of marijuana, but to give it away for free. Free to anyone who claims a medical need, whether they be users, addicts or dealers.

Prop. 203 would require DPS officers to distribute 2 ounces of confiscated marijuana each month to anyone with a "Registry Identification Card." This get-pot-for-free card would require only a doctor's note, not a prescription. Anyone with an ache, pain, muscle spasm or other condition could ask for a note. Instead of paying for ibuprofen to cure a headache, the so-called medical need would be alleviated by smoking a joint provided by your state government for free. And don't think 2 ounces of marijuana isn't significant. The 2 ounces equals 200 joints.

Registry Identification Card holders or their caregivers could also get two marijuana plants to grow without supervision or restriction. What will stop people from using the seeds to grow more plants? If our confiscated marijuana stash gets low, Prop. 203 would have DPS purchase marijuana from the University of Mississippi. Instead of using our scarce tax dollars for education, safe roads and countless other important state programs, we would be buying drugs and funding drug habits.

Instead of preventing crime and protecting our communities, our law enforcement officers would be giving away the same pot they have confiscated from sellers, users and traffickers.

In addition, if Prop. 203 passes, felons convicted of drug crimes, currently incarcerated in Arizona prisons, could be let out immediately. Then, theoretically they could see their "doctor" and get a free pot card and start possessing, selling and using marijuana again. The social implications and ramifications of both convicted criminals and hundreds of pounds of free pot on the street are frightening.

In Prop. 203, Sperling, Soros and Lewis have left out a lot of the administrative details to enacting a free pot program. They have not outlined any measures to ensure the free pot isn't tainted. How would we prevent these cards from getting into the hands of drug dealers, kids or addicts? These questions and many more are left unanswered. Prop. 203 does not include proposed consequences for abuse of the free pot program or how to deal with the potentially thousands of citizens who might need drug addiction treatment after using free marijuana. Who will pay for that treatment?

This is the fourth proposition John Sperling and his rich friends have tried to get on the ballot in Arizona in the last six years in their quest to legalize drugs. They have spent millions on advertising and public relations under the guise of legalizing and distributing "medical marijuana." Voters, don't buy the lie. This isn't about marijuana use among our terminally ill. Prop. 203 is just another step Sperling, Soros and Lewis have taken in their campaign to legalizing unregulated, untested Schedule I drugs including marijuana, heroin, cocaine and PCP.

For the sake of our communities, our kids and our much-needed tax dollars, please vote no on free pot.