Pubdate: Fri, 04 Jan 2013 Source: Arizona Republic (Phoenix, AZ) Copyright: 2013 The Arizona Republic Contact: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/sendaletter.html Website: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/24 Author: Yvonne Wingett Sanchez Page: B2 LAWMAKER TARGETS MEDICAL-MARIJUANA LAW A state lawmaker wants to repeal Arizona's controversial medical marijuana law, which allows people with certain medical conditions to legally grow, sell and use the drug. Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, on Thursday filed a bill that would refer the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act back to the ballot in November 2014. House Concurrent Resolution 2003 would require the Legislature's approval, but not Gov. Jan Brewer's signature. The upcoming legislative session begins Jan. 14. Kavanagh told The Arizona Republic that voters deserve the right to rethink whether the law, approved by voters in 2010, should have passed in the first place. He said new findings that some teens were obtaining pot from medical marijuana cardholders "was the last straw." That survey information was included in the biennial study by Arizona Criminal Justice Commission, which found nearly one out of every nine students in Grades 8, 10 and 12 who responded to a survey said they got the drug from patients or caregivers who are legally allowed to use marijuana. "This simply lets the voters rethink a decision they made on faulty - and absent -information," Kavanagh said. "Nobody ever dreamed they'd (medical marijuana cardholders) be supplying schoolchildren." Arizona voters approved the medical marijuana law in 2010 by a narrow margin of about 4,300 votes. "This measure barely passed at the polls ... and people were misled to believe that its recipients would be cancer patients on chemotherapy and glaucoma sufferers - but now they represent a fraction of the users," Kavanagh said. Nearly 34,000 Arizonans are allowed to smoke or grow marijuana, according to the state Department of Health Services. Of them, 3.76 percent use marijuana to ease cancer symptoms; less than 2 percent cite glaucoma. The overwhelming majority - 90 percent - cite severe and chronic pain. Kavanagh thinks he'll have "overwhelming support" by the Legislature, which "was cool on the idea to begin with." Kavanagh, like many other Republicans, is also concerned that the state's medical marijuana law conflicts with federal drug laws. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom