Until recently, I didn't even know how to spell "marijuana" but even I was aware that many AZ aging winter visitors already use marijuana for medical reasons - with or without a prescription.Now, Quartzsite medical card holders need not fear Police Chief Jeff Gilbert and a felony arrest
.By about 4,300 votes, Arizonan's have decided the future of this alternative therapy.This is NOT close enough for a recount. Arizona becomes the 15th state to legalize medical marijuana.
| Proposition 203 (Medical Marijuana) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
 a Yes | 835,735 | 50.13% | ||
| No | 831,314 | 49.87% | ||
| Total votes | 1,667,049 | 100.00% | ||
| Voter turnout | 55.28% | |||
Results via the Arizona Secretary of State as of November 12.
Arizona's law is very different from California's.The law only allows 120 dispensaries for the entire state, and those have to be equally distributed amongst all the population centers in the state.If you are 25 miles away from the closest dispensary you can get a permit to grow your own, as long as you meet the requirement of a doctor’s prescription.You will not be allowed to smoke in public or drive after smoking. Andrew Myers, campaign manager for the pro-Prop. 203 Arizona Medical Marijuana Policy Project, said Prop. 203 was written to create a strict and regulated medical-marijuana program.
In anticipation of the legalization of cannabis for medical use, The League of Arizona Cities and Towns had drafted a model ordinance so we won't have to pay our idiot (wills, trusts and estates)Town Attorney Pam Walsma $300/hour to draft one. According to the League
| "The ballot initiative gives cities and towns the ability to "...enact reasonable zoning regulations that limit the use of land for registered nonprofit medical marijuana dispensaries to specified areas in the manner provided in Title 9, Chapter 4, Article 6.1..." (municipal zoning). |
| Applicants for medical marijuana dispensaries must apply to the state Department of Health Services for a permit and must certify that their dispensary location is in compliance with local ordinances; there is a limit of 120 dispensaries statewide. However, if your city or town has not adopted zoning regulations for medical marijuana facilities, neither the city nor DHS could restrict its location. |
| The model ordinance is intended only as a guideline; consult your city or town attorney for legal advice. |
According to a CH 12 news report: "The general-election canvass will be held Nov. 29. The Arizona Department of Health Services has 120 days from that day to finalize all rules for implementation. The department is expected to begin reviewing dispensary and patient applications by April 2011."
In neighboring California, medical marijuana is the number one cash crop.According to a poll commissioned by the Sacramento Bee news paper: "More than 400,000 Californians use marijuana daily, according to the state Board of Equalization. And state residents consume 16 million ounces of weed a year, from legal and illegal sources. And, 47 percent of registered voters said they have used marijuana at least once in their life. That exceeds the registration of any political party in the state."
In neighboring California, medical marijuana is the number one cash crop.According to a poll commissioned by the Sacramento Bee news paper: "More than 400,000 Californians use marijuana daily, according to the state Board of Equalization. And state residents consume 16 million ounces of weed a year, from legal and illegal sources. And, 47 percent of registered voters said they have used marijuana at least once in their life. That exceeds the registration of any political party in the state."
The Los Angeles Times reported Marijuana is the most popular illegal drug in the United States. Seventy years of criminal prohibition, "Just Say No" sloganeering and a federal drug war that now incarcerates 225,000 people a year have not diminished the availability or use of — or apparently the craving for — cannabis. And helping meet the demand is California, the nation's top grower. Marijuana production here results in an estimated $14 billion in sales, and its cultivation and distribution are now tightly woven into the state's economy. It is grown in homes, in backyards and even in national parks, including Yosemite.
Marijuana is popular, plentiful and lucrative, costing about $400 a pound to grow and yielding $6,000 a pound on the street. So it is perhaps inevitable that an attempt would be made to legalize it, as failed CA Proposition 19 attempted to do. The act would have authorize possession of one ounce of marijuana for personal consumption by people 21 and older, permit marijuana use in private residences or public places licensed for on-site consumption, and allow marijuana cultivation in private residences for personal use.
http://arizonamarijuanalaw.com/marijuana-laws/ reports that "Enforcing marijuana prohibition costs taxpayers an estimated $10 billion annually and results in the arrest of more than 829,000 individuals per year — far more than the total number of arrestees for all violent crimes combined, including murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault."
According to the U. S. Justice Department's National Drug Intelligence Center "No reliable estimates are available regarding the amount of domestically cultivated or processed marijuana. The amount of marijuana available in the United States--including marijuana produced both domestically and internationally--is unknown. Moreover, estimates as to the extent of domestic cannabis cultivation are not feasible because of significant variability in or nonexistence of data regarding the number of cannabis plants not eradicated during eradication seasons, cannabis eradication effectiveness, and plant-yield estimates."
A recent article claims that more than 3.4 million Californians smoked pot in 2008, according to the latest research by the National Survey on Drug Abuse and Health.Further, it states: "Historically, marijuana use in California remains lower than during peak years of the late 1970s. But voters' approval of Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act – which made the state the first to legalize medical marijuana – is changing the social dynamic, according to poll results and interviews with users in 15 counties.
1. Controls nausea (benefit for chemo patients)
2. Controls weight loss (benefit for anorexic patients, AIDS patients, & Cancer patients
3. Reduces pressure in the eyes (benefit for those with Glaucoma, present medication loses its effectiveness after a short treatment period)
4. Reduces tremors (Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis, ALS)
5. Reduces muscle spasms (Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis, ALS)
6. Reduces pain (Cancer patients, Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis, ALS, Neurological issues, Migraines,) Has an analgesic effect that seems to work as well as codeine and enhances the effect of other pain medication
7. May protect nerves from damage (MS)
8. Can control dosage, quick response to smoking
9. Only 3% addiction problem
10. May cure cancer
For an in depth analysis of the marijuana debate, check out:
Marijuana & Money A CNBC Special Report
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