EJ Montini states that legalizing marijuana will "save money spent on needless law enforcement" ("...a doobie done deal," April 15). With that logic, we could save a lot of money by decriminalizing everything. No police force, no judicial system, no prison system... the savings would be incredible. Jennifer Rivera - - Tempe [end]
It won't be easy clearing 80 years of smoke from a room. Not marijuana smoke -- the smoke of propaganda. The smoke of fear. The smoke already being blown in our faces by opponents of Arizona's Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, which is working to get an initiative legalizing small amounts of marijuana on the November ballot. It shouldn't be any surprise that there is an early poll on the issue showing that the initiative probably wouldn't pass, particularly since the poll was released by the group trying to defeat the initiative. [continues 272 words]
We live in a state where it appears that marijuana smokers are more inclined to offer tax money for education than state legislators. On the bright side, the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol announced this week that it has collected more than 200,000 signatures for a November ballot initiative that would end marijuana prohibition in Arizona. The campaign needs to collect 150,642 valid signatures. A local backer of the initiative sent me a note saying, "Is 200,000 signatures a milestone or a milestoned?" [continues 393 words]
The campaign to legalize marijuana for recreational use in Arizona has gathered more than 200,000 signatures in its effort to qualify for the November ballot, it reported Tuesday. The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, which has been pushing the effort for about a year, needs 150,642 signatures from registered voters to make the ballot. Some of the gathered signatures may be invalid because they were signed by people who cannot vote. To account for invalid signatures, the group aims to collect about 225,000 signatures, a spokesman said, and hopes to have a healthy cushion once the signatures are verified by the Secretary of State's Office. Barrett Marson, a campaign spokesman, could not say when those signatures would be filed with that office. [continues 301 words]
Why Can't Advocates of Legal Weed Get Along With Each Other? In an ideal weed-topia, all marijuana advocates work together to accomplish the ultimate dream: abolishing prohibition. But because the world is an imperfect place, several groups in Arizona have split up into at least half a dozen initiatives-with similar but different demands-campaigning for voter support. Most of them are going nowhere, but the two measures that have gathered traction are the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, backed by the Washington-based Marijuana Policy Project, and the underdog Phoenix group Arizonans for Mindful Regulation. [continues 1984 words]
Medical Marijuana Researcher Sue Sisley Briefly Came Back to the UA for a Special Lecture on the Challenges of Conducting Weed Research Nearly two years after medical marijuana researcher Sue Sisley was fired from the UA, she returned for a special lecture on medical weed in front of a room of more than 50 people at the off-campus entity, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute-an educational program for older adults. The crowd was filled with questions about Sisley's research and the current UA administration's decisions to back away from a study that seeks to find answers on the soothing impact of marijuana on post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. [continues 444 words]
Here we go again with another diatribe by Sheila Polk and friends against the legalization of marijuana (Our Turn column, April 4; letters, Feb. 13). Sheila Polk is making sure that the USA keeps its lead for having the highest incarceration rate in the world by helping to continue the draconian laws that lead to arresting people for marijuana use even though more people died from prescription drugs each year than all illegal drugs combined. Also, booze and tobacco kill more people each year than "illegal drugs," and they are more harmful. [continues 175 words]
The people behind the marijuana initiative want to "regulate marijuana like alcohol." Clever marketing. But it hides the many flaws inherent in legalizing this drug flaws that have statewide lawenforcement leaders, along with many others, united in opposition. Just look to Colorado, the pioneer in marijuana legalization. Since legalization there, teen use has increased to more than 70 percent above the national average. So much for this being about giving adults choices. Arizona should expect similarly disastrous effects. Meanwhile, advocates claim that legalization will allow law enforcement to focus on more serious crimes than marijuana possession. We already are: Only about 3 percent of marijuana users are ever arrested, and those people are generally involved in other crimes as well. Or, they are carrying pounds (not ounces) of marijuana. [continues 420 words]
Vice Media Creates a Buzz With "Weediquette" Show Krishna Andavolu tackles a controversial issue in the first episode of his new show Weediquette: Parents who turn to concentrated cannabis oil to fight cancer. Weediquette, which airs weekly on the Vice Media's new channel Viceland, launched a TV segment where Andavolu called his mom to share some good news. "I got the new show," Andavolu told her. "It is about weed." "Oh no," she replied. "Don't smoke it on camera." [continues 473 words]
Today's question: What's the difference between "medical marijuana" and "street marijuana?" And how come medical marijuana costs $300 an ounce while "street" marijuana only costs $60 an ounce? There are several reasons for this. For starters, it's kind of like the difference between really cheap rotgut whiskey and the finest Tennessee sipping whiskey. Medical marijuana is usually grown using hydroponics or aeroponics in climate controlled conditions and raised with quality nutrients. And security can be expensive. Purveyors of street weed are not quite so fussy. [continues 149 words]
I was a warrior in the war on drugs. I spent 20 years fighting the flow of drugs into America, including 18 years as a DEA special agent. As a special agent, I helped spearhead the Drug Enforcement Administration's marijuana efforts in Florida and New Mexico before retiring. I spent a lifetime's work in law enforcement, mostly centered on stanching the flow drugs into America, and have come to one conclusion: I don't believe marijuana should be illegal. [continues 440 words]
Since its legalization in Denver there have been many jokes about the Broncos and marijuana. The fact that the football team's home, Denver, is also known as "Mile High" just makes it easier. Even though marijuana is legal in Colorado, it is still banned in the NFL. Players are tested regularly for marijuana and punished if found to have any in their system. With the Broncos in the Super Bowl the jokes were at an all-time high, but does marijuana have a place in the NFL and sports other than jokes and suspensions? [continues 525 words]
PHOENIX (AP) - The state Supreme Court plans to decide whether the mere smell of marijuana is enough to justify a search by police in the wake of Arizona's legalization of medical marijuana. The justices agreed Tuesday to consider appeals of contradictory rulings by the Phoenix and Tucson divisions of the state Court of Appeals. A three-judge panel of the Phoenix division ruled the enactment of the medical marijuana law doesn't eliminate a legal doctrine that says the plain smell of marijuana is sufficient to establish probable cause for a search. A ruling by a divided panel of the Tucson division ruled that circumstances other than the mere smell of marijuana are now needed to provide the legal basis for a search warrant. The justices plan to hear oral arguments on the issue. [end]
If You Don't Make Sure Your Voice Is Heard, Then Probably Not Last week, I wrote about the need for research into the positive effects of marijuana. I chose this as my first topic because of how important I believe it to be. If I had to list in order of importance that would be issue 1A and issue 1B would be the decriminalization of marijuana. This is another area where progress has been made, but there is still much work ahead. [continues 456 words]
94 Percent of U.S. Research Is Aimed at Finding Negative Effects of Marijuana Greetings readers. This is my first article for the Tucson Weekly. My Mary Jane Doe cannabis column will be a mix of news, opinions and reviews. Sometimes all in the same article. I have known and believed in the medicinal power of cannabis since the '90s, when my friend credited it with saving his life. His illness made it impossible for him to keep food down. He was malnourished and dying until he found marijuana. [continues 543 words]
The parents of a young woman whose 2010 murder remains unsolved have alleged their daughter was a confidential informant for Phoenix police, a position that may have placed her in direct contact with her killer. On Tuesday, the family of Nicole Glass filed a wrongful-death suit against the city of Phoenix for what they say were officers' failure to warn the 27-year-old about the dangers of their arrangement. The lawsuit alleges negligence on the part of the recruiting officers and their supervisors, all labeled as John Does for now. [continues 1020 words]
For those of you that think using and selling drugs is not a violent crime, I suggest you consider the event that occurred to the Buckner family on Tuesday in Glendale. Alex Buckner killed his mother, father and two sisters and then set the house on fire. Responding police had to shoot and kill Alex. What could be more violent? Furthermore, there is a TV program called "The First 48" which televises real-life homicide events around the country. A large portion if not the majority of homicides involves drugs. So ask yourself, would the world be a better place if there was no marijuana, crack cocaine or heroin? Q.E.D. - - Sammy Bell Glendale [end]
A rise in suspensions and expulsions caused by students' marijuana use is truly an issue, and we should be (I certainly am) working on solutions. But, prohibition hasn't worked - kids can still buy marijuana! Fifty-eight million dollars in tax revenue isn't a "mere drop in the bucket" for taxpayers who want the best for our kids or for the countless students who benefit from better-funded schools. Last year, our state's school system ranked 48th out of 51. We shouldn't pretend like we have the luxury of turning down millions of dollars. [continues 113 words]
I have listened to and read the pros and cons of legalizing marijuana, and I don't see anyone talking about the strength of the THC in weed today. The weed if the '70s was much weaker than the weed of today. Unless there are strict controls on that, I can't support legalization. We have strict controls on the percentage of alcohol in liquor. You can't go into a bar or liquor store and buy a bottle of pure grain alcohol. Until we can have controls on the THC in weed, we can't legalize it. If weed is to be consumed for medical purposes, the THC must be bred out of the marijuana plant. I can't see legalizing it just so stoners can get high any time they want. There must be controls! Teresa Hering Phoenix [end]
Preventing kids from using drugs and alcohol is not easy, in fact, it is complicated. But this much we know about keeping kids safe from alcohol and drugs; the way to reduce the number of kids who use is to decrease supply and easy access, and increase the understanding of risks. Colorado, where marijuana was made legal in 2014, now leads the nation in youth use of marijuana and all illicit drugs. Colorado has been the proving ground that legalizing marijuana increases supply, increases ease of access, decreases perception of risk and increases the social acceptance of the drug. [continues 101 words]
There have been several articles published recently by the folks who don't want to see cannabis legalized for recreational use. Several of these opinions are penned by current and former elected officials, all of whom base their opinions on dubious facts, half-truths and outright lies. What message do you think that this sends to the very people the anti-cannabis crowd claim to want to protect, the adolescents? Today's kids are smarter than these folks give them credit for, and they know the facts about cannabis. So the message they may be getting is, "If they're lying to us about the harmful effects of cannabis, they're probably lying to us about the harmful effects of alcohol, meth and heroin, too." Unintended consequences of dishonesty? Bob Uselton, Phoenix [end]
As former Arizona superintendents of public instruction, we have spent our professional careers dedicated to seeking positive outcomes for our state's youth and its education system. Given what we know about the challenges involved in education reform, we are compelled to go on record in vociferous opposition to current efforts to legalize marijuana in Arizona. Most critically, we take great exception to recent campaign efforts to promote legalized marijuana as a net positive benefit to education reform. Legalizing a drug whose dangers have become more widely known and documented overturns decades of prevention work in our education and health-care systems. [continues 418 words]
Not surprisingly, EJ Montini was noticeably vauge in his recent op-ed ("Blowing marijuana smoke ...," Feb. 10) accusing Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy of using "questionable" information in its arguments against legalizing marijuana. Nothing could be further from the truth. Consider the following: - -- Since Colorado legalized marijuana, teen use has risen dramatically and is now 74 percent higher than the national average. (2015 SAMHSA report/U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) - -- Since legalization, Colorado has seen an increase in marijuana-related traffic fatalities, hospitalization and emergency visits, as well as marijuana-related calls to poison control centers. (Rocky Mountain HIDTA) [continues 145 words]
Last week, dispensary owners in Arizona, and other states, woke up to news their Facebook pages were deleted At least a handful of medical marijuana dispensaries in Tucson realized their Facebook pages had been deleted on Thursday, Feb. 4 by the social media site, according to the Daily Haze. Facebook claimed they had banned the pages because the company does not allow any material that "condones drug use." The Haze spoke to Tucson's Earth's Healing's marketing director, Florence Hijazi, who told the online publication that not having a Facebook page damages the dispensary's business, because their patients check their page on a daily basis for different specials and other updates. Hijazi also told the Haze that, in response to being kicked out of Facebook, Earth's Healing plans to focus more on their Twitter account and their phone app. [continues 361 words]
Phoenix Open-Inspired Billboard Aims to Educate Golf Lovers and More on Marijuana Legalization Backers of a proposed ballot initiative to end marijuana prohibition in Arizona launched a Phoenix Open-inspired billboard on Monday, Feb. 1 to coincide with the kickoff of the golf tournament. It will be up through the end of the tournament on Sunday, Feb. 7. The Waste Management Phoenix Open is the world's best-attended golf tournament, according to the Scottsdale Convention and Visitors Bureau, which refers to the tournament as the "greatest show on grass." [continues 275 words]
Continuing the State's Anti-Marijuana Trend, Several Proposals by GOP Lawmakers Want to Make It Make It Harder for Patients to Access Medical Weed As it's been the tradition for several years, the 2016 legislative session began with nearly a handful of proposals hoping to burn down the state's medical marijuana industry. Whether any of them will see the light of day is still up for debate, but the bills still fired up medical weed advocates, who are sick and tired of state lawmakers continuously attacking the 2010 voter-approved Arizona Medical Marijuana Act. [continues 621 words]
Continuing the state's anti-marijuana trend, several proposals by GOP lawmakers want to make it make it harder for patients to access medical weed As it's been the tradition for several years, the 2016 legislative session began with nearly a handful of proposals hoping to burn down the state's medical marijuana industry. Whether any of them will see the light of day is still up for debate, but the bills still fired up medical weed advocates, who are sick and tired of state lawmakers continuously attacking the 2010 voter-approved Arizona Medical Marijuana Act. [continues 620 words]
Mexican Border City Grapples With Possibility of Legalizing Marijuana Mexico's Supreme Court ruled this fall that individuals have the right to grow marijuana for personal use, but on the border many are divided over the issue. Some in this border city, which became a bloody battleground for rival drug cartels fighting for lucrative smuggling routes to the U.S., say they believe decriminalizing marijuana will reduce violence. "Drug trafficking would go down and there would be fewer people involved in violence," said Raul Parra, a nursing student in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua--on the U.S.-Mexican border across from El Paso, Texas. [continues 265 words]
Legalization Nears Ballot; Bills Target Medical Use As a marijuana-legalization campaign nears its goal of gathering 150,000 valid signatures to get on the statewide November ballot, two Arizona lawmakers are proposing bills that would place limits on its medical use. Republican Rep. Jay Lawrence of Scottsdale is seeking to restrict access to medical marijuana with a bill that would ban naturopaths and homeopaths from writing prescriptions for the drug, require patients to renew cards every six months and punish those cardholders who sell or give the drug to kids. If approved, it would be referred to the November general election ballot. [continues 834 words]
In response to Lisa Olson's Saturday My Turn supporting the legalization of marijuana. I honor her dedicated service as an educator. My grandmother, father and three sisters were all Arizona teachers. My six children and I are products of Arizona schools. But on this issue, Ms. Olson is off the mark. Our schools need increased funding. However $40 million in revenue would result in less than one-half-of-one-percent of the overall $10 billion school budget in Arizona. [continues 130 words]
In November, Arizona voters will likely have the opportunity to decide whether marijuana should be regulated like alcohol in the state. With this vote on the horizon, it is time to seriously consider the implications of regulating marijuana. As a parent of five children and educator in Arizona for 25 years, my natural inclination is to wonder what impact it might have on young people in our state. While opponents of the proposed initiative claim it will be disastrous, the evidence suggests otherwise. [continues 575 words]
Cannabis prohibitionists (New Conditions, Dec. 24, 2015), discriminating against citizens, including sick citizens have been a menace long enough. Arizona citizens may stop cannabis prohibitionists from harming sick citizens with a golden opportunity to completely RE-legalize the relatively safe, extremely popular God-given plant cannabis on the next Election Day. Colorado citizens no longer need a doctor's recommendation and a permit, to use cannabis for medical health reasons and every subsequent poll indicates voters continue supporting the end of cannabis prohibition. Forcing sick citizens to pay for permission to use cannabis amounts to government extortion for protection from police and that sickening policy must end. - - Stan White [end]
Labs, Doctors Scrutinized Over Routine Screenings Doctors frequently order patients to take urine drug tests to safeguard against prescription pain-pill abuse. But federal investigators and Medicare say these routine tests, designed to ensure patients properly use opioid drugs, have led to questionable billing practices by some for-profit labs, doctors and addiction-treatment centers. Millennium Health, the nation's largest lab and one that has conducted widespread testing in Arizona, agreed to pay $256 million to the federal government in October to settle claims that it conducted unnecessary testing. [continues 2104 words]
Cannabis can and should be grown and distributed in a way that is safe for both consumers and communities, but prohibition keeps that commonsense option out of reach. Patients looking for their medical marijuana should not have to resort to the back alley! Now with recent research on the plant they are able to breed new plants that give less of a high and more of a medical value, especially helping our veterans and young people needing the very low side effects of their medicine! States that have effectively regulated cannabis have already taken billions of dollars out of the hands of criminals and put them in the hands of taxpaying licensees! Steve Stockwell Chino Valley [end]
The State Is Failing to Meet the Requirement to Allow New Medical Conditions The Arizona Medical Marijuana Act has provided safe legal access to medical cannabis to sick Arizonans since the passage of Prop 203 in November 2010. The program is regulated by the Arizona Department of Health Services. New conditions can be added to the program during open application periods twice a year, but the rules surrounding the process and the specific standards by which these conditions are approved or denied are largely left to the AZDHS administration. AZDHS has fought hard against all the petitions filed in the history of the program. Only PTSD, with the help of the Arizona Cannabis Nurses Association has been successfully added as a qualifying condition. AZCNA Attorney Ken Sobel appealed the AZDHS denial of PTSD and prevailed.In a huge victory for patient rights, this was special because is it is the first mental health condition to be approved for treatment under the AMMA. [continues 398 words]
For Arizonans who have spent their lives and careers seeking positive outcomes for our children's health, education and welfare, E.J. Montini's Dec. 17 column, "Marijuana initiative slyly spreads like weed," must have come as quite a shock. In arguing for an initiative to legalize marijuana, Montini's source came from a pro-marijuana lobbyist: broadcasting several errors of fact and logic. The lobbyist stated that those opposed to legalizing marijuana use one tool, "fear." Indeed there is a great deal to fear from making a dangerous drug like marijuana more available, but that fear is actually based on scientific and medical fact. [continues 532 words]
Arizona Pot Prohibitionist Seth Leibsohn Says He Won't Really Debate in Favor of Legalization Avriette A right-wing Sedona group advertises what promises to be the throwdown of the year: A debate on the merits of marijuana legalization between staunch pot prohibitionist Sheila Polk on one side and fellow anti-marijuana activist Seth Leibsohn on the other. Yes, you read that right: The group says Leibsohn will take a pro-legalization stance in the debate. Leibsohn, a conservative AM-radio talk-show host, is the chair of Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy, a group formed to combat an adult-use legalization measure expected to be on the 2016 Arizona ballot. Yavapai County Attorney Polk is the group's vice chair. [continues 678 words]
Arizona is125,000 signatures closer to legalizing marijuana. It's going to happen. While the rest of us have concerned ourselves with presidential politics and terrorism (which sometimes seem indistinguishable) the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana like Alcohol in Arizona has quietly collected more than 125,000 initiative signatures, well on its way to getting the needed 150,000 valid signatures by July 7. "This is going even more quickly than we thought it would go," deputy campaign manager Carlos Alfaro told me. "We're looking forward to getting the signature process finished and get the campaign out there." [continues 413 words]
An Arizona State University student is asking an appeals court to overturn the law that makes it illegal for him to have physician-recommended medical marijuana in his dorm room. Andre Maestas, 20, an ASU junior and medical-marijuana cardholder, was arrested in 2014 and charged with a felony for having 0.6 grams of weed in his room on campus, roughly the equivalent of one joint. He is the first to challenge a 2012 statute banning medical marijuana on state university campuses, which the Legislature passed two years after Arizona voters approved a ballot initiative to legalize medical marijuana. [continues 1363 words]
As a retired police lieutenant, I can confidently say that Bill Montgomery fails to understand how civil forfeiture laws have played out in reality ( "Arizona won't seize your property unjustly"). Between 1997 and 2013, 87 percent of all assets seized were through civil forfeiture laws, meaning that nearly all instances occurred without requiring law enforcement to seek or obtain a conviction. Even the original architects of civil forfeiture laws said last year, "The program began with good intentions but now, having failed in both purpose and execution, it should be abolished." [continues 114 words]
Paul Avelar and Keith Diggs earn an "F" for grossly distorting Arizona's civil forfeiture laws with a self-serving, special interest "national report card." ("Arizona must end 'policing for profit,' " Our Turn, Thursday). Their critique conflates civil and criminal legal standards to make the preposterous claim that law enforcement can seize someone's property without due process and force a property owner to prove their innocence in order to get it back. If this were truly the case, courts would have struck down our forfeiture laws years ago. [continues 386 words]
The marijuana legalization movement in Arizona is relying on a specious study to make the case for recreational marijuana at the ballot next year. Their study says marijuana is 114 times safer than alcohol. Interestingly, it also says meth is ten times safer than alcohol, while heroin and cocaine are twice as safe. On that logic, why not make meth, heroin, and cocaine like alcohol, as well? Meanwhile, serious peer reviewed research regarding the effects of marijuana has been shown to increase high school drop outs, lower IQ, induce memory loss, and in some cases cause paranoia and psychosis especially among adolescents. [continues 404 words]
I disagree that legalization of recreational cannabis should wait until science provides a means to objectively measure cannabis impairment for driving (editorial, "Another unanswered question on pot"). Legalization and DUI enforcement are distinct issues. We have the problem of impaired drivers arising from use of various legal and illegal substances, whether or not recreational cannabis is legal. This public health and safety issue should be addressed through public awareness campaigns and enforcement, using the best evidence currently available. However, we have the disastrous societal effects of our futile efforts at prohibition only as long as we continue those efforts. [continues 87 words]
Now's the time to get involved in the cannabis social movement Many social movements have been taking hold in our nation recently. For example, same-sex marriage has moved from social acceptance to being fully legal. Cannabis law reform is a hot topic in politics and the media, as well as more and more states jumping onboard. Times are good, and there is much fulfilling work to be done on these and other humanitarian fronts. However, I am making a public call to action, asking for your participation in these movements. It isn't hard, there are events happening all the time. [continues 408 words]
How far down this rabbit hole does Arizona plan to go? Questions about driving while high on medical pot get curiouser and curiouser, even as some Arizonans push to legalize marijuana for recreational use. These are life-and-death questions because a stoned driver can be just as deadly as a drunken one. The men, women or children that stoner crashes into can wind up just as cold as the victims of drunk drivers. The difference is that we have set and measurable limits on how much alcohol a person can consume before he or she is considered legally too drunk to drive. [continues 467 words]
November is epilepsy awareness month and that is cause for celebration in the cannabis world because cannabis has been shown to be a safe, effective and far less toxic treatment option when compared to the usual allopathic anticonvulsants. This is accomplished through the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties found in the cannabinoids and terpenoids that are the major active components. These compounds help to turn down the music for many who suffer from epileptic conditions. With cannabis they are able to live fuller lives, without their development being interfered with by pills. [continues 477 words]
Five cartel lookouts huddled beneath thick desert brush one night last month. Suddenly, they realized they'd been spotted. The scouts, who are paid to study the movements of authorities and guide drug traffickers through the Arizona desert, dropped their heavy backpacks and bolted across rocky terrain near the quiet neighborhoods and golf courses south of Casa Grande. Using covert tactics, a border-crimes team stationed at a makeshift headquarters watched as the lookouts made their getaway. "They have night-vision capabilities and they're lightning fast," said Department of Public Safety Capt. Dave Nilson, who fielded constant radio traffic as he led the operation targeting traffickers in Vekol Valley. [continues 1878 words]
MMJ businesses to conduct business the normal way, except when it comes to keeping their cash in a bank Picture yourself as a humble small-business owner. You arrive at work one fine, crisp Tucson morning to a surprising letter from your bank. It says you have two weeks to get any and all the assets out of your account before they freeze it indefinitely. The rent on your office is due next week, and Friday is payday for your employees, and Tucson Electrical Power is wondering when they are going to get their check for last month's energy usage. The bank offers no explanation of why your account was closed. [continues 823 words]
With so much misinformation circulating regarding the legalization of pot use by advocacy groups, it was good to see some actual facts about the real harmful consequences of condoning the use of marijuana by adults and teenagers in Colorado. The myth that the black market would somehow disappear with legalization was quickly put to rest, as "legalization in Colorado has created a magnet for it as legality and availability drive sales and consumption." Now the entrenched drug cartels have to compete with local growers, leading only to increased violence and addiction. [continues 74 words]
I see the Seth Leibshon and Sheila Polk dog-and-pony show got more publicity. They never give the whole story, only those parts that will work for their stilted views. For instance, one of the big reasons Ohio voted against legalization of marijuana was the bill would have created a marijuana monopoly, allowing only 10 privately run marijuana farms in the entire state. Can you imagine the millions those would-be farmers stood to make? Of course, there would be some problems with children and teenagers, just as there are with alcohol, cigarettes and now the vapes. However, what is less than honest about these two zealots is they want you to believe these problems would be happening to every other kid. Not so. Check the facts. William Cochran Phoenix [end]
Inside Arizona
