yournamehere

Despite polls consistently saying that Arizona voters favored a Medical Marijuana Law by a 3:1 ratio, it took over 12 days to count one of the (supposedly) closest votes ever in Arizona.

Finally, in the early evening of Saturday, November 13, the final vote count came in, and out of over 1.6 million votes, Proposition 203 passed by about 4,300 votes. It now joins 14 other states with medical marijuana laws.

I can't wait to see how Governor Jan Brewer will try to keep this from becoming law. Her biggest campaign fundraisers run the state's private, for-profit prisons, and depend on undocumented landscapers and drug offenders to keep them full and make them profitable. She was very vocal in her opposition to Prop 203.

Congratulations, Arizona!

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Shauk

Still surprised that it continues to fail in CA though, isn't everyone else?

Is there some sort of union for these states? Seems like if enough states pass some similar version of these laws that they could just form some sort of representative body to lobby for them. Far as I can tell, they seem to be a joke as far as what Federal level lawmakers think of them.

SirLance

Shauk, Medical Marijuana is law in California. It's complete legalization that failed.

To quote Ogden Nash, if 50 million people say a foolish thing, it's still a foolish thing. Medical marijuana is bad news.

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DEMOCRACY is where your vote counts, FEUDALISM is where your count votes.

Shauk

ah ok, I guess I disagree. I don't do the stuff (hence why my knowledge of it's legal status is highly peripheral) but people are going to do it regardless of it's legal status, I'm sure you have heard all the arguments for legalization so I'll save you the agony of having to hear someone who's half disinterested in it explain it all over again. *queue another TFP poster?*

yournamehere

It will be regulated by doctors; it eases the suffering of thousands, creates jobs, adds desperately needed tax revenue to the State Treasury, will replace addictive narcotics for many people, and takes money out of the hands of drug cartels. How do you spin that into bad news?

Yes - as with anything in life, it will be abused by some people, but I do not predict human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria! Unless you or a loved one is suffering from a painful condition, you'll never notice a difference after this becomes law.

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If you want to avoid 95% of internet spelling errors:
"If your ridiculous pants are too loose, you're definitely going to lose them. Tell your two loser friends over there that they're going to lose theirs, too."
It won't hurt your fashion sense, either.

hunnychile

Another reason to Love Arizona!!! *This is terrific news and a smart move by a great State.*

BTW, I've known too many chronically ill friends who have used medical marijuana and it helped them feel pain free and able to cope with ARC and also arthritis. The Native Americans have used it for centuries to deal with pain and illness.

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dksuddeth

this is a useless law and will just expose people to more violence inflicted upon them by the federal government.

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"no amount of force can control a free man, a man whose mind is free. No, not the rack, not fission bombs, not anything. You cannot conquer a free man; the most you can do is kill him."

silent_jay

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StanT

Huh?
Business as usual in Colorado, where it seems to work pretty well.

The state is still tweaking the laws; but doctors are writing prescriptions, the state is licensing patients and businesses, dispensaries and greenhouses are being zoned and taxed, and local police seem to be on board.

I'm really not seeing any downside here. An underground market that has always existed is now above board, taxed, and regulated.

dksuddeth

great, does it still violate the CSA?

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"no amount of force can control a free man, a man whose mind is free. No, not the rack, not fission bombs, not anything. You cannot conquer a free man; the most you can do is kill him."

Zeraph

Woot! I live in arizona and have a condition that will allow me to use it. I can't wait!

StanT

Not an acronym that I'm familiar with in this context.

It's still against federal law. We've seen federal operations against large growing operations that are outside the scope of the MMJ laws. As far as I can tell, if you are within the limitations of Colorado law, the fed isn't interested at this point.

For the most part, this is just a yawn.

SirLance

I don't favor the medical marijuana laws as passed. I think the FDA should move it to schedule 2 so real live clinical studies can be done. Teenage addiction rates have soared in the states that passed it, and we'll probably have the same experience. It may be "regulated by doctors," but it's easy to get a doctor's approval. They hawk 'em on Venice beach, drop a c-note, get a card.

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DEMOCRACY is where your vote counts, FEUDALISM is where your count votes.

Ourcrazymodern?

I'd like to see reliable statistics on teenage addiction rates...

Good job so far, Arizona voters!

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StanT

It's not like there aren't doctors writing questionable prescriptions for Oxycontin.

Unlike alcohol or Oxycontin, marijuana is not physically addictive. I'd love to see documentation on the addiction rates, they certainly don't mirror what I see. When I was in High School (admittedly decades ago), it was easier to get pot than beer. Liquors stores have licenses and a physical presence to maintain, they care ... dealers do not.

Personally, I prefer the liquor store model to the pharmacy one; but I'll take what I can get.

SirLance

Wrong. Marijuana is physically addictive. See this article in psychology today.

Recent studies also indicate that the younger you use pot, the more likely you are to have a psychotic episode later.

If you do a quick google search, you'll find about 40 million articles about the increase in pot use among teenagers after the passage of prop 103 in california.

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DEMOCRACY is where your vote counts, FEUDALISM is where your count votes.

lockthedoors

A psychotic episode? Sign me up! Anything to make life more interesting.
I've been smoking it for 4 years or so, as painkillers do not help my back pain to settle. I also don't like to take too many pills, I usually just take my multi-vitamins. Marijuana allows me to drive to work, pain free. It allows me to sleep through ENTIRE nights. It allows me to write music, without putting my guitar down every 10 minutes to try and stretch my back in the right ways. Marijuana lets me live a normal life, and it keeps me sane. I've never had a craving to smoke the stuff, and i've never gone through withdrawal. None of my friends have anything bad to say about my medecine. I'm not even for the legalization of it past medicinal uses, and if I had a medicinal license, i'd still buy from the same dealer. Everyone against marijuana purely because they associate it with criminals is a fool. I've never committed a serious crime in my life, I've never been in a car accident, or even come close. Everyone needs to be calm about life and roll up some herbs.

SirLance

You drive under the influence? You don't consider that irresponsible?

Your testimony joins a lot of anecdotal evidence for the benefits of medicinal THC. I don't oppose marijuana for medical use, but I think that ballot initiative is the wrong way to go about it. We have a process for creating new drugs, and if our federal government would get off their fat dead asses and move it to the proper schedule so that drug companies could do actual clinical studies, maybe we could get something done, and determine a reliable dose and dosing mechanism.

If anyone is interested, the ballot proposition and for/against arguments can be found here.

Interesting that most of the against arguments come from addiction counselors.

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Ourcrazymodern?

Interesting, too, is that most of the against arguments are contained in the counselors' handbooks. As long as such prejudices are regarded as written in stone, no true communication between those who do & don't is possible. Maybe that's why people who quit for reasons not their own sometimes end up angry.

I advocate recreational marijuana for whoever wants it.

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Zeraph

All I need to know is that it is medicinal, can help a lot of people, and the death rate is like 4 a year. Compared to alcohol and tobacco which kills 100s of thousands a year.

cadre

+1 My fiancé and I are in Az and we each have different conditions that would benefit from this. It will be interesting to see what happens, but I am sad that California's legalization didn't pass. God knows our state can use the tax money!

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silent_jay

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yournamehere

Interesting, perhaps, but not surprising. Their businesses depend heavily on a steady influx of alcoholics and opiate addicts. Their bottom line will suffer when many of their potential clients switch to a non-addictive medicine. If someone wanted to take business away from me, I'd scream the loudest, too.

BTW - I don't care how many hits on Google you can find - I smoked pot for over a decade; gave it up one day, and never looked back. Never missed it a bit.

__________________
If you want to avoid 95% of internet spelling errors:
"If your ridiculous pants are too loose, you're definitely going to lose them. Tell your two loser friends over there that they're going to lose theirs, too."
It won't hurt your fashion sense, either.

SirLance

The researchers studying these episodes found them disturbing, rather than hilarious. Drug induced psychosis is never funny.

If you think marijuana is harmless, you need to think again. If you choose to use it, that choice should be informed by science, rather than prejudices. Understand the risk you are taking.

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DEMOCRACY is where your vote counts, FEUDALISM is where your count votes.

silent_jay

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Fly

i like the part about my own knowledge and experiences of the weed.........you don't like it,fine.




man do i love Canada.......

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silent_jay

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Ourcrazymodern?

mmmm...brownies! Way off topic, but I'm going to make some for dessert.

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silent_jay

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Ourcrazymodern?

No, they'll only seem that way.

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SirLance

My personal opinion is not at issue, in fact, I do like it. What I don't like is the circumvention of processes we've put in place to create, dispense, and control medicine. These are not perfect, but are better than fiat by initiative.

If you want some facts, silent_jay, try the NIH web site. The facts about addiction rates, psychosis, long term side-effects, etc, are there for all to see. I'm sure you've heard of the National Institute of Health.

Your personal experiences with weed (and no, it's not just weed, it's a psychoactive substance that alters your brain chemistry) are actually not unusual. Others have had bad and, yes, fatal experiences. It is foolish to ignore that. If you decide you are taking an acceptable risk, that is your decision to make, just don't get behind the wheel of your car while stoned. That makes your choice a private act with public consequences.

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DEMOCRACY is where your vote counts, FEUDALISM is where your count votes.

silent_jay

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