cannabisnews.com: Arizona Drug Backers Bow Out Arizona Drug Backers Bow Out Posted by FoM on June 01, 2000 at 05:39:58 PT By The Associated Press Source: New York Times An advocacy group seeking to legalize marijuana for medical use in Arizona has dropped its support for a ballot measure. The group, The People Have Spoken, on Wednesday acknowledged a provision of the initiative might prevent prosecution of medical marijuana users for drug trafficking offenses. ``It's a legal mess. It's a great disappointment,'' said group spokesman Sam Vagenas. The development follows criticism of the initiative by Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley and others that it would give medical marijuana users immunity from prosecution for any state drug offense. The initiative would ask voters to reduce penalties for possessing small amounts of marijuana and have the state create a system to distribute marijuana for medical use. Other proposed changes include requiring immediate parole for some drug offenders and mandating that assets seized from drug traffickers be used to pay only for drug prevention and treatment and for gang intervention, not general law enforcement. Vagenas said the petition drive had more than the legal requirement for 101,762 signatures due by July 1, but he declined to state how many had been collected. Supporters include New York billionaire George Soros and University of Phoenix founder John Sperling, both of whom bankrolled previous ballot campaigns in Arizona as well as other states. Phoenix (AP) Published: June 1, 2000Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company Related Articles & Web Site:The Soros Foundationhttp://www.soros.org/Medical Pot Back as Ballot Initiativehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread3274.shtml CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archives:http://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #2 posted by FoM on June 01, 2000 at 10:24:48 PT Related Article Group Drops Pot Initiative, but It Could End Up on Ballot By Paul Davenport The Associated Press Thursday, 1 June 2000Arizona Daily Star http://www.azstarnet.com/Phoenix — A citizens group dropped its support of a drug initiative yesterday but it still may end up on the November ballot. The group, The People Have Spoken, acknowledged a provision of the initiative might prevent prosecution of medical marijuana users for drug offenses. "It's a legal mess. It's a great disappointment," said group spokesman Sam Vagenas. Though The People Have Spoken will not submit the voter signatures collected to qualify the measure for the ballot, the petitions will be given to a group of medical marijuana supporters that can file them, Vagenas said. Otherwise, a 1984 state attorney general's opinion on a similar issue means a person who signed the initiative petition could sue The People Have Spoken for effectively removing that person's signature unilaterally, Vagenas said. "This other organization is going to carry the torch," he said. A lawyer for the other group, Plants Are Medicine, did not immediately return a call for comment. The development follows criticism of the initiative by Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley and others that it in fact would give medical marijuana users immunity from prosecution for any state drug offense. The initiative would ask voters to reduce penalties for possessing small amounts of marijuana and have the state create a system to distribute marijuana for medical use. Other proposed changes include requiring immediate parole for some drug offenders and mandating that assets seized from drug traffickers be used to pay only for drug prevention and treatment, and for gang intervention, not general law enforcement. "We have said from the beginning this is a legalization effort and nothing to do with medical marijuana," Romley said yesterday through an aide. "They've been caught now." Special Assistant County Barnett Lotstein said Romley's office would research the legality of the petition transfer. Vagenas said the petition drive was well beyond the legal requirement for 101,762 signatures due by July 1, but he declined to say how many had been collected. The initiative, filed last October, is touted by supporters as a way to close loopholes opened by opponents of 1996 and 1998 drug initiatives approved by voters. Supporters include New York billionaire George Soros and University of Phoenix founder John Sperling, both of whom bankrolled previous ballot campaigns in Arizona as well as other states. The Arizona Daily Star Online - Thursday, 1 June 2000 [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by dddd on June 01, 2000 at 06:52:57 PT gagged The people have spoken.They have now been gagged...dddd [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: