PHOENIX -- Arizonans apparently want the right to inhale despite the calls by county prosecutors that they take a deep breath first. A new statewide survey shows that 53 percent of those asked support allowing those with a doctor's recommendation to get up to 2 ounces of marijuana a month free from the state Department of Public Safety. For everyone else, Proposition 203 also would reduce the penalty for possession of small amounts of marijuana to a civil offense, punishable by no more than a $250 fine. [continues 421 words]
PHOENIX -- County prosecutors kicked off the campaign to block further liberalization of state marijuana laws. In separate press conferences, Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley and Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall came out strongly against Proposition 203. That measure would allow those with a doctor's recommendation to have and use marijuana and decriminalize possession of small amounts of the drug for everyone else. Romley said the real issue is that the initiative goes far beyond the issue of letting doctors prescribe otherwise illegal drugs, subjects approved by voters in 1996 and ratified in 1998. [continues 416 words]
County prosecutors have kicked off their campaign to block further liberalization of state marijuana laws. In separate press conferences, Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall and Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley came out strongly against Proposition 203. That measure would allow those with a doctor's recommendation to have and use marijuana and decriminalize possession of small amounts of the drug for everyone else. Drug distribution can be linked to property crimes and violent crimes, LaWall said. She fears a "cottage industry" would develop in which doctors would offer the recommendations to more than their regular patients. [continues 468 words]
PHOENIX -- Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Alfredo Gutierrez broke with most of his foes Friday, publicly backing an initiative to further liberalize the state's drug laws. Gutierrez declared the war on drugs "a failure.'' He said Arizonans realize that, having voted twice -- in 1996 and again in 1998 -- to preclude the jailing of those with small amounts of any illegal drug. Instead, offenders are to be put on probation and sent for drug counseling. Proposition 203 would go a step farther -- at least with marijuana -- and say possession of up to two ounces is a civil violation punish- able by a maximum fine of $250. [continues 405 words]
PHOENIX -- Backers of an initiative to further liberalize the state's drug laws have lost a key ally. Former U.S. Sen. Dennis DeConcini said Wednesday he cannot support Proposition 203 even though he likes the idea of reducing the penalty for possession of marijuana. DeConcini, a former Pima County Attorney, backed the original 1996 initiative to liberalize the state's drug laws. This year's measure also expands the 1996 law which allows those with a medical reason to possess the drug without fear of any law enforcement action. DeConcini said that, too, is a worthwhile goal. [continues 454 words]
PHOENIX - Arizona police chiefs want to make sure that if someone is buying nitrous oxide, the intent is to whip some cream. Legislation introduced in the House of Representatives would make it a crime to sell canisters of nitrous oxide, better known as laughing gas, unless there's a legitimate purpose. It also would make a criminal of anyone who showed someone else how to use the small canisters - commonly known as "whippets" - to get high. The measure, HB 2011, is sponsored by Rep. Mike Gleason, R-Sun City West, at the behest of El Mirage Police Chief Richard Yost. Yost said he has the backing of the Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police. [continues 656 words]
PHOENIX - A plan to let voters decriminalize possession of marijuana will be struck from the November ballot. State Elections Director Jessica Funkhouser said yesterday that backers of Proposition 201 did not have enough valid signatures on their petitions. The measure needed 101,762 to qualify for the Nov. 7 ballot. A random sample of the 142,624 signatures submitted showed that fewer than 101,762 signers were registered to vote or lived where they said they did. Michael Walz, chairman of Plants Are Medicine, the group backing the initiative, said the effort will be renewed for the 2002 ballot. The backers will exclude the questionable wording that drew immense opposition to this year's version. [continues 541 words]
PHOENIX - The new leader of the drive for medical marijuana has more than just a passing experience with the issue. Mike Walz has a law practice in Phoenix built solely on defending people accused of cannabis-related crimes. And many of his clients are people who say they need the weed for medical reasons. In fact, Walz says, he takes those kinds of cases for free. Now Walz finds himself in the middle of a political firestorm, championing a change in Arizona law that its opponents say would give legal immunity to people who sell drugs to children. [continues 136 words]
Think folks in Maricopa County are conservative? Think again: Most Valley of the Sun residents want to reduce the penalty for marijuana possession, according to a new survey. They also want to thwart the federal government's intervention in the state's medical marijuana laws. That survey says seven out of 10 Maricopa County residents would support a new initiative to set up a statewide distribution system for medical marijuana. The same measure also would reduce the penalty for possession of less than 2 ounces of marijuana from a felony - carrying a possible prison term - to a maximum $500 fine. [continues 646 words]
Border Patrol Bias Shown, But No Harm, Panel Says Border-area Hispanics can't sue to block Border Patrol officers from stopping motorists simply because they look Hispanic, federal judges ruled yesterday. An 11-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals acknowledged that two Southern Arizona residents presented evidence that they had been stopped, for no apparent reason, on Interstate 19 south of Tucson. But the court said they made no showing that they were likely to be ``wronged again.'' [continues 754 words]
Federal officials trumped the wishes of Arizona voters by threatening the livelihood of any doctor who went along with a 1996 initiative allowing them to prescribe marijuana. Now Arizona voters may be able to turn the tables with another change in the law. Sam Vagenas, director of The People Have Spoken, said doctors haven't written any prescriptions for marijuana despite the 3-year-old law because they fear the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will rescind their rights to prescribe other drugs. He said that fear exists even though Arizonans specifically voted to let doctors write prescriptions for otherwise illegal drugs for seriously and terminally ill patients. [continues 880 words]
Phoenix--Voter-approved legislation to keep first- and second-time drug offenders out of prison has saved Arizona taxpayers $2.5 million, a report by the staff of the Arizona Supreme Court says. But the report, released yesterday, assumes that every one of the 551 people sentenced under the terms of Proposition 200 would otherwise have gone to prison. In fact, Mary Judge Ryan, the chief deputy Pima County attorney, said the reverse is true. She said most people who are convicted for the first time of possession of drugs for personal use would wind up back on the streets. [continues 535 words]
PHOENIX - Attorney general hopeful John Kaites insists his opponent's arrest 15 years ago makes him a criminal - even though prosecutors dropped the charges. At a news conference yesterday, Kaites defended a new TV commercial which states that Tom McGovern ``has a record, not as a prosecutor but as a criminal.'' It includes footage of McGovern that has been doctored to show him behind bars with a beard. McGovern, who set up his own news conference near Kaites' around the same time, acknowledged the 1983 New Jersey arrest on weapon and drug charges. He pointed out that the case was dismissed, and said prosecutors believed he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. [continues 447 words]
PHOENIX - The state Supreme Court will decide today what voters will be told about the proposed repeal of a law legalizing illegal drugs for medical use. At issue is whether the wording written by legislators is biased because it singles out certain illegal drugs, such as heroin and LSD, from 116 listed in the measure. A Maricopa Superior Court judge last week ordered the Legislative Council - a committee of legislators backing the measure - to remove those references from a brochure for voters. [continues 157 words]
