cannabisnews.com: Arizona Becomes 15th State To Approve Marijuana
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Arizona Becomes 15th State To Approve Marijuana
Posted by CN Staff on November 14, 2010 at 19:44:55 PT
By The Associated Press
Source: New York Times
Phoenix -- By a narrow margin, Arizona voters have approved medical marijuana for people with chronic or debilitating diseases. The decision makes Arizona the 15th state to have approved a medical marijuana law. California was the first in 1996, and 13 other states and the District of Columbia followed.The ballot measure on the issue, Proposition 203, won by just 4,341 votes out of more than 1.67 million ballots counted, according to final tallies announced on Saturday.
The approval came as something of a surprise. At one point on Election Day, the measure trailed by about 7,200 votes. The gap gradually narrowed until it edged ahead during counting on Friday. The final tally was 841,346 in favor and 837,005 opposed.“We really believe that we have an opportunity to set an example to the rest of the country on what a good medical marijuana program looks like,” said Andrew Myers, campaign manager for the Arizona Medical Marijuana Policy Project.The Arizona measure will allow patients with diseases including cancer, AIDS, hepatitis C and any other “chronic or debilitating” disease that meets guidelines to grow plants or to buy two and a half ounces of marijuana every two weeks.The patients must obtain a recommendation from their doctor and register with the Arizona Department of Health Services. The law allows for no more than 124 marijuana dispensaries in the state.Backers of Proposition 203 argued that thousands of patients faced “a terrible choice” of suffering with a serious or even terminal illness or going to the criminal market for marijuana. They collected more than 252,000 signatures to put the measure on the ballot, nearly 100,000 more than required.The measure was opposed by all of Arizona’s sheriffs and county prosecutors, the governor, the state attorney general and many other politicians.Carolyn Short, chairwoman of Keep AZ Drug Free, the group that organized opposition to the initiative, said her group believed that the law would increase crime around dispensary locations, lead to more people driving while impaired and eventually lead to legalized marijuana for everyone.She said that the major financial backer of the new measure, the Marijuana Policy Project, based in Washington, makes its ultimate goal clear: national legalization.“All of the political leaders came out and warned Arizonans that this was going to have very dire effects on a number of levels,” Ms. Short said after votes for the measure pulled into the lead late Friday. “I don’t think that all Arizonans have heard those dire predictions.”A version of this article appeared in print on November 15, 2010, on page A14 of the New York edition.Source: New York Times (NY)Published: November 15, 2010Copyright: 2010 The New York Times CompanyContact: letters nytimes.comWebsite: http://www.nytimes.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/r8pW1ygiCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 
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Comment #9 posted by FoM on November 15, 2010 at 11:11:34 PT
The GCW
Thank you. The article is posted now.
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Comment #8 posted by The GCW on November 15, 2010 at 10:30:56 PT
AZ Kingman Daily Miner
Medical marijuana ballot issue narrowly approvedProposition 203 has 4,000-vote 'yes' advantage with a few ballots to be countedhttp://www.kingmandailyminer.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubsectionID=1&ArticleID=4129911/15/2010 
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on November 15, 2010 at 10:27:07 PT
The GCW
Yes it is.
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Comment #6 posted by The GCW on November 15, 2010 at 09:45:16 PT
FoM,
It is kind of revealing that no major Arizona newspapers are reporting the victory.
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Comment #5 posted by The GCW on November 15, 2010 at 09:43:36 PT
Prop 19 info???
I'm not sure but I thought I noticed some stories about a driving death that was related to cannabis before the election and it was given a lot of attention and it was said to effect the election...This news article may be about that story and if so it's indicating that the driving death was in fact not a factor of cannabis according to tests...California lost Prop 19 for many reasons and this falst story may have been a contributor.-0-US CA: OPED: Get The Facts Before You Lay The Blamehttp://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n935/a01.html?397Pubdate: Sun, 14 Nov 2010
Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel (CA)Shame on all those who condemn victims of accidents before there is any proof of intoxication. Shame on those who make premature statements about the possible use of marijuana for causing the Oct. 22 fatal accident on Highway 1 that took the life of not only the young mother, but the driver of the other car. California Highway Patrol officers said at the scene that Stephen Sibley, whose car crossed over into oncoming traffic, was suspected of using marijuana before the accident. In defense of Mr. Sibley, our son was involved in a fatal auto accident on Jan. 1 of this year. My husband and I were were met at the emergency room by a CHP officer who told us the person who hit the car our son was a passenger in was intoxicated. The "intoxicated" driver died at the scene. Somehow this made it easier to understand the reason the driver was on wrong side of Highway 17 at 4:15 a.m. New Year's morning, causing the horrific accident that continues to affect our son and his friends, who all survived. Seven months, yes, seven months later -- the toxicology report was completed and it was found that in fact, the driver was not under the influence of any substances! ...I can't help but believe that this was a political ploy from the media to influence voters. 
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on November 15, 2010 at 06:12:42 PT
Arizona Newspapers
I have yet to find any big Arizona papers that are posting a story on the success of Prop 203. They sure were fast at condemning Prop 203 though.
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Comment #3 posted by Hope on November 15, 2010 at 03:45:44 PT
Karmala Harris
I don't know much about Ms. Harris, but what I do know about Cooley makes me want him not to win. It's nerve wracking. I wish they'd get the votes counted.
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Comment #2 posted by Dankhank on November 15, 2010 at 02:42:17 PT
John
glad to hear it ... need em all ...
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Comment #1 posted by John Tyler on November 14, 2010 at 20:52:32 PT
Surprise surprise 
I was over at another web site and to my surprise Karmala Harris is ahead by a slim margin in the latest vote count over Steve Cooley.  http://vote.sos.ca.gov/returns/attorney-general/
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