cannabisnews.com: War Begins Over Plan to Overhaul Drug Laws 





War Begins Over Plan to Overhaul Drug Laws 
Posted by FoM on January 29, 2000 at 07:23:56 PT
By Inger Sandal, The Arizona Daily Star 
Source: Arizona Central
A proposal to overhaul Arizona's drug laws looks good at first glance, but voters should study the fine print, local police and prosecutors say. Supporters of the ballot initiative say there is nothing tricky about the measure and that opponents represent the ``old guard'' in the fight against drugs. 
The measure is called the Drug Medicalization, Prevention and Control Act of 2000. ``It's deceptive and it's real purpose is to legalize drugs,'' Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik said this week. ``The voting public is being conned by a handful of people who are throwing millions of dollars into the state of Arizona under the pretext of legalizing marijuana.'' The initiative would also divert millions of dollars in forfeiture assets from law enforcement, Dupnik added. This week he and Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall presented their concerns to newspaper editorial boards. Initiative supporters say they aren't surprised by the early lobbying. ``These are basically the soldiers in our failed War on Drugs,'' said Sam Vagenas, who directs the initiative campaign for The People Have Spoken committee. ``We want to find a new way of fighting drug abuse. This is the old guard - it shouldn't be surprising they oppose these kinds of changes,'' he said. Vagenas said the measure would ensure patients have access to marijuana for medical use, while also changing laws to provide treatment instead of incarceration for non-violent drug users. Both sides agree the measure seems headed to the November ballot - supporters started circulating petitions in late October and have collected about a third of the 101,762 valid signatures needed by July 6. The initiative is backed by the same people who successfully sponsored Proposition 200 four years ago. Voters sided then with allowing the use of marijuana, LSD, heroin, angel dust and other drugs to treat diseases and pain if prescribed by a doctor. Law Amended: The Legislature amended the law a year later to eliminate all but marijuana from the list of drugs, and bar its use for medical reasons until it receives U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval. Arizona voters backed marijuana's medicalization again in a 1998 referendum, but patients still lack legal access. An independent poll of 450 registered voters in Maricopa County conducted after supporters launched the new initiative drive in October showed 70 percent support. ``The public has been quite consistent on these marijuana reform issues for quite some time. There seems to be a very broad belief that medical issues of marijuana should be legalized - in fact they voted on it twice,'' said Earl de Berge, research director of the Behavior Research Center in Phoenix. De Berge found varying support for five major elements of the measure: * Requiring forfeited drug money and properties to be used for drug prevention and treatment and anti-gang programs. * Mandating harsher punishments for serious drug offenders. * Creating a state network to control the distribution of medical marijuana for patients. * Reducing the penalty for simple possession from jail time to a $500 fine. * Eliminating minimum sentences for non-violent marijuana offenders. The initiative, however, would actually repeal minimum mandatory sentences in all drug offenses. ``It's very misleading,'' said Deputy Pima County Attorney Tom Rankin, who supervises asset forfeitures. Changes in Sentencings: ``Whether you're just a possessor who may go to drug court or you're a kilo dealer of cocaine, now there's not going to be any minimum mandatory sentences,'' Rankin said. And he called the initiative's offer to increase the maximum drug sentences by 20 percent mere window dressing. Judges rarely impose substantially aggravated sentences in drug offenses, he said. Rankin said the initiative is complex. But he said supporters ``are hiding behind the medical marijuana and they're being deceptive about what other terms are in there.'' Dupnik agreed. ``If all the initiative did was make marijuana available to doctors for legitimate medical purposes, I would be among the chief supporters,'' Dupnik said. Josh Burner of Mesa said he wants the initiative to pass so he can stop buying marijuana off the street. ``I'm the only person in Arizona with two prescriptions for medical marijuana written by Arizona physicians,'' said Burner, who was diagnosed in August 1995 with cancer of the throat, soft palate and tongue. He said his surgeon and his primary doctor wrote him prescriptions, unaware they couldn't legally be filled. Oral surgery and heavy doses of radiation had taken away Burner's saliva, taste and appetite, and caused him to drop 30 pounds. A little marijuana - either eaten with a bran muffin or smoked in his corncob pipe - has helped him regain his weight, he said. Burner, who appeared in television commercials for earlier initiatives, gets emotional when he talks about other cancer patients being denied. Maintain a Registry: The current initiative would require the Arizona Attorney General's Office to provide marijuana to patients and to maintain a registry of eligible patients. The office has taken no position on the initiative. The measure would also relax the procedures needed to receive marijuana, changes that Burner called necessary to protect doctors from federal prosecution. The initiative only requires one doctor to discuss the possible health risks of marijuana with a patient, and to advise the patient in writing how it might benefit his or her condition. A doctor would no longer have to document the case with scientific research or evidence. Supporters say the initiative emphasizes treatment for drug offenders rather than incarceration. But Dupnik said it would actually take a toll on court-ordered drug programs that are effective because people either comply or go to jail. ``When you take the hammer away they are no better than any other treatment program,'' he said. Dupnik said the initiative also ``almost makes it impossible to enforce possession laws of any kind.'' It would prevent anyone from being locked up on first- and second-time drug possession cases, and mandates probation with no incarceration consequences for those who don't comply. The initiative also would prohibit the state from using felony drug paraphernalia charges to put first- and second-time offenders behind bars. It would limit the sanction for possession of 2 ounces of marijuana or less and associated drug paraphernalia to a fine of up to $500. ``We don't believe people should have to go to jail just for possessing marijuana,'' Vagenas said. All drug offenders in prison who weren't involved in selling drugs would be immediately eligible for parole or parole review. Party Lines Crossed: Vagenas, a former deputy under ex-Secretary of State Richard Mahoney, said the initiative's supporters cross party lines. He said the measure appeals to conservatives who say incarcerating drug users wastes money and that prison space should be freed up for ``real criminals.'' The committee's chairman is John Norton, a deputy secretary of agriculture under President Ronald Reagan, and its treasurer is Marvin Cohen, head of the Civil Aeronautics Board when Jimmy Carter was president. Other backers include John Sperling, founder of the University of Phoenix, and New York financier George Soros. Vagenas said there are similar initiatives in California and Massachusetts. The Arizona Daily Star Online Saturday, 29 January 2000 Related Articles:Decrim. Efforts Begin To Take Shape In Arizona - 10/15/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3288.shtmlVote Could Mandate Pot Tickets - 10/14/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3273.shtmlCapitalists for Cannabis - 9/29/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3059.shtml 
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on January 30, 2000 at 19:46:56 PT
No Problem
Please don't worry about it at all kaptinemo! I only mentioned it incase there was a glitch and I needed to let someone know. Thanks for the corrected link!Peace, FoM!
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Comment #7 posted by kaptinemo on January 30, 2000 at 17:55:25 PT
BLOODY HTML!
Okay, my fault again . This one will work!!!Bloody dot was in the wrong place.GRRRR!
http://www.marijuananews.com/news.php3?sid=57
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on January 30, 2000 at 17:35:27 PT
Link Problems
Hi kaptinemo and everyone. I just tried to click on the links you posted and they didn't work. Please let me know if this happens to anymore but it seems odd that two separate links don't work, at least one should work.Peace, FoM!Poll:Reefer Madness Poll Results:  Do you support legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes? Yes - 78.7% No - 21.3% 27002 respondents http://home.snap.com/main/channel/item/0,4,-8734,00.html?st.sn.sr.0.8734
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Comment #5 posted by kaptinemo on January 30, 2000 at 16:08:06 PT
Sorry, here's the right URL
Pardon my goof on the URL. Here is the one you need to look at.
http://www.marijuananews.com/newsphp3?sid=57
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Comment #4 posted by kaptinemo on January 30, 2000 at 15:57:17 PT
This is why you shouldn't waste your time 
arguing with the police.After reading of Kubby's interview with a nark, it becomes immensely obvious that if there is to be any change, it must come form the top down, and so forcefully that old behavior patterns (as represnted by this instance) are discouraged.Legislators draft laws. Judges interpret laws. Cops are supposed to uphold the law. Someone should inform this neo-Nazi with a badge that he is supposed to be doing just his own job, not that of a judge or a legislator. 
http://www.kubby.com/AMMA.htm
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Comment #3 posted by kaptinemo on January 29, 2000 at 15:49:28 PT
Doc, I don't bother having intellectual battles
with unarmed jerks like these guys.Despite the best efforts of these goons, Prop200 was passed. Despite their *continued* best efforts, they and the legislature tried to nullify the 'will of the people' again. And they came away with scorched fingers. So now they are reduced to peeing-and-moaning about money coming from 'outside' their State (But then the billions they get from the Feds *also* come from out of State, so how can they bitch about it?) This is but another sign that the tide is turning in our favor. Because when they start whining, it means they are beginning to sense - rather dimly, it seems - that things are not going the way they want. Oh, they are still dangerous. They can still ruin - or take - your life. But now, with ever more increasing criticism of the WoSD, they will have to face their methods being questioned, their dogma scrutinized, and have to explain how when people voted for Prop200, they sought to overturn the democratic processes they are sworn to uphold. And why they feel people are so stupid that they can't be trusted to vote 'properly'. Nope, I don't bother with these types; I'd rather expend my energies on their masters - who ultimately are *our* employees. 
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Comment #2 posted by Doc-Hawk on January 29, 2000 at 15:03:09 PT:
SEEING Red?
Having just read the article, are you seeing red right now? If not, you should bee. Here is a jerk who is supposed to enforce the law, trying to say that he knows best and that if the law is changed, it will interfere with his ability to steal his victim's money, freedom, and lives.Poor Poor sick twisted soul. This man is as close to being the devil as a pessimistic agnostic can imagine.If you want, you can write his sorry butt at: pcsd rtd.com .
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Comment #1 posted by kaptinemo on January 29, 2000 at 10:23:46 PT
Billions vs. Millions
Let's take this one at a time, shall we?``It's deceptive and it's real purpose is to legalize drugs,'' Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik said this week. ``The voting public is being conned by a handful of people who are throwing millions of dollars into the state of Arizona under the pretext of legalizing marijuana.''And the Federal and State governments haven't been engaging in deception for the last 63 years? (Reefer Madness!!! One joint makes you a homicidal maniac!) And they haven't spent upwards of 200 Billion dollars in the last 30 years promulgating this insulting trash? Who is the *real* con, here? George Soros, or Uncle Sam and his minions?Another lie:The initiative is backed by the same people who successfully sponsored Proposition 200 four years ago. Voters sided then with allowing the use of marijuana, LSD, heroin, angel dust and other drugs to treat diseases and pain if prescribed by a doctor. Law Amended:The Legislature amended the law a year later to eliminate all but marijuana from the list of drugs, and bar its use for medical reasons until it receives U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval. What actually happened, Mr. Reporter, is that the Arizona Legislature, completely against their oaths of office, *illegally* attempted to void the democratic process by declaring the referendum null and void. The people had to vote on it *twice* before the dunderheads realized that the people had indeed spoken. And still they managed to ream the vital innards out of it. In short, even before Bob Barr pulled his infamous stunt on DC, these idiots did it in Arizona.Democracy in action. Yeah, right.
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