cannabisnews.com: Prop 200 Saving Arizona Millions!





Prop 200 Saving Arizona Millions!
Posted by FoM on July 01, 1999 at 06:24:45 PT
Source: High Times
Arizona's once-controversial Proposition 200, the "Drug Medicalization, Prevention, and Control Act of 1996," is saving tax dollars, reducing crime and decreasing drug use, according to a report by the Arizona Supreme Court.
Prop 200 passed in 1996 as a referendum measure, and defeated all political challenges against it in 1998. It entitles doctors to prescribe any Schedule I drug, including marijuana, heroin and LSD, and prohibited the incarceration of non-violent drug offenders. "Opponents of Proposition 200 said this was a 'pro-drug' initiative. As it turns out, the Drug Medicalization Act is doing more to reduce drug use and crime than any other state program--and saving taxpayer dollars at the same time," said Arizona Appellate Court Judge Rudy Gerber. Approved by over two-thirds of Arizona voters in November 1996 and thunderously re-approved in 1998, the Act requires that non-violent drug users charged with possession receive mandatory probation and treatment instead of prison sentences. The Act creates a Drug Treatment and Education Fund which diverts liquor taxes to fund drug programs. The Supreme Court report, required by law to evaluate Prop 200, found the outcomes "very favorable"--and in some areas "remarkable." Results include:* Cost savings to Arizona taxpayers of over $2.56 million.* 2,622 offenders diverted into treatment rather than prison.* 77.5% of probationers tested drug-free after program completion."All of these factors are resulting in safer communities and more substance-abusing probationers in recovery," concludes the report. "This report firmly supports a new paradigm of drug control for the nation," says Norman Helber, Chief Adult Probation Officer for Arizona's (ultra-ULTRA-conservative) Maricopa County. Author : Bill Weinberg - Special to HT News
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Comment #1 posted by emily wahlstrom on January 29, 2001 at 20:38:10 PT:
Prop 200
If the government would make Marijuana legal and sell it in a smoke shop the revenue a lone would keep the United States pay the national debit. The government tried to have alchol eliminated and that didn't work because the will of people won out. In this case the people will eventually win out. For twenty years the government has been wages a war on drugs and it hasn't work. Why continue this war that they can't hope to win. I feel that the government is trying to show there morality down the peoples neck.
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