Prop 203: Medical Marijuana

I'm 10% supportive, I encourage a NO vote.

What it does
o This is the fourth time since 1996 that Arizonans have been asked to decriminalize marijuana as a medicine.
o In 1996, voters approved a ballot proposal that allowed the use of medical marijuana. But state lawmakers gutted the law after federal authorities threatened to revoke the licenses of doctors who prescribed marijuana.
o In 1998, voters rejected a ballot attempt that would have required Congress or federal government to OK the use of medical marijuana before doctors would prescribe it.
o In 2002, Arizona voters rejected an effort to legalize possession of small amounts of marijuana and make it available for free to patients who have cancer and other diseases.
o Fourteen states have legalized medical marijuana, including California and New Mexico.
Observations on the law itself
o Non-profit medical marijuana dispensaries
--I couldn’t figure out why all this effort and language was put in to establish non-profit medical marijuana dispensaries…until I got to the very end: tax exempt status.
--Why should marijuana be a tax-free product?
--The entire idea of Medical Marijuana is that this is Just Like Any Other Drug! So, let pharmacists stock and dispense it as if that were true.
--This reminds me of the old story that an NBA player gets rich, sets up a foundation, and then employs his family at it.
--If the department wants to inspect, they have to give reasonable notice first. Why?

o Designated caregiver
--I really just don’t understand this part of it at all.
--Why is it limited to “helping” just five or fewer patients, except that it's got abusive potential built in?

o Miscellaneous
--There’s this really weird exception right in the beginning about it being okay to transport them in your car if you’re moving.

o What conditions
--Severe and chronic pain
--This strikes me as “health” of the mother, the sort of thing that you can't prove or quantify.

o Special exceptions
--This law doesn’t allow you to possess or use it on a bus, at school, etc.
--Why don’t other drugs have this same issue? You can’t ride home with your prescription? You can’t take your pills in a public place?

o Driving
--No specificity for driving impairment.

o Application process
--No address is necessary if homeless, but then where would you use it?
--Pledge not to divert to anyone not covered under this plan. How about to not anyone? Just like with other drugs.
--There’s a provision allowing people to be notified about marijuana studies. But this implies that we don’t already know enough about it.
--If we already know enough for it to be safely prescribed, then why doesn’t any disease call for it? If we don’t already know enough about it, then why should we be permitting people to buy it?
--Speaks about controlling dosages for under 18 (and over, presumably), but what is the dosage regimen?
--Automatically get a card after 45 days if no reply by department.

o Database
--Doesn’t tell addresses
--Tells how much marijuana from non-profit, but not from all dispensaries.

o Illegality
--Someone in possession of marijuana is presumed innocent under this statute if they also have a card. You have to show they misused the marijuana. Overused.

o Work
--You can’t be fired for testing positive, only for testing high.
--If it’s a legitimate drug, why can’t you use it at work?
--Does pain or nausea go away just because you’re on the job?
--Prop. 203 would give protections to marijuana users that other drug users don't have. Prop. 203 would prohibit employers from discriminating against registered users in hiring or termination; schools from refusing to enroll registered users; and landlords from denying leases to registered users.

o Insurance
--Does not compel insurance or doctors to cover or prescribe
--But why not? If it’s really just like any other drug.

o Location of use
--No compulsion to allow people to dose when on your property
--Why not, if just like any other drug.

o Amount
--2.5 ounces = 1-200 joints, every 14 days. 7-14 per day.

o Cost: Joint Legislative Budget Committee, DHS, total users
--2011--$600,000, $1.2 million, 6,600
--2012--$1.5 million, $1.5 million, 33,000
--2013--$3.1 million, $4.7 million, 66,000
--The funding doesn’t add up. 120 in the first year, at $5000 per is indeed $600,000. But in the second year, the renewal fee is $1,000, which is only $120,000. Since the funds are going to jump by 2.25 second year, how can this work?

For
o If I or my sons had a condition that seemed unresponsive to other treatments, I would want the freedom to try something like this.
o The ability to handle pain/nausea associated with chemotherapy.
o 14 states already have some sort of provision.
o Fixes some of the mistakes of CO and CA, such as limiting the number of dispensaries and the number of conditions to prescribe for.
o Supporters say marijuana is a natural, safe and effective substitute for painkillers, such as Vicodin and Oxycontin, commonly prescribed to patients with severe illnesses. Long-term use of these medications can lead to addiction and physical dependence.
o Proponents say people can die from overdosing on prescription pills, but they can't die from overdosing on marijuana.
o Marinol, a synthetic THC pill approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, is available by prescription to treat nausea and appetite loss for cancer and AIDS patients. THC is the active ingredient in marijuana. Supporters say there are other active ingredients in the marijuana plant that could be used as medicine. If Prop. 203 passes, all parts of a marijuana plant and its seeds would be legal to use.
o Prop. 203 is often compared to medical-marijuana measures in other states. Proponents argue that Prop. 203 is written with more regulation than other states' laws, and that it has stricter limits for the diseases and symptoms that would qualify patients to receive marijuana.
o Supporters
--Arizona Medical Marijuana Policy Project
--Pima County Democratic Party.

Against
o Which message do we want to send to children: marijuana is dangerous and you should just say NO or marijuana is a good thing?
--Social stigma is currently 100% negative, this would make it conflicted.

o Usefulness
--FDA doesn’t recognize marijuana as treatment for any condition.
--Marinol is already available.
--No FDA medicine is smoked.
--Pain medications already exist.
--Pain is a very difficult and subjective thing to quantify.
--American Medical Association declined to incorporate marijuana and wants to keep it illegal.
--American Academy of Pediatrics opposes this
--American Cancer Society opposes
--National Multiple Sclerosis Society rejects marijuana
--American Glaucoma Society rejects marijuana
--American Academy of Ophthalmology rejects marijuana

o Will this lead to more people using and abusing marijuana?
88% of all applicants in Montana cited severe or chronic pain.
--Use is decreasing in all 50 states, but less so in states where legal
--Teens use most pot.

o Traffic accidents
--Marijuana is already the most common illegal drug involved in crashes.

o Gateway law for the gateway drug.
--Marijuana Policy Project which wants legalization, is behind this.

o Opponents
--Arizona Department of Health Services
--Clean Adventures in Sober Living
--First Step Recovery
--Decision Point Center
--An array of County Attorneys and Sherrifs
--Center for Arizona Policy
--Keep AZ Drug Free

Questions
o Why don’t we prescribe alcohol?
o ow many people will this truly help who aren’t already being helped, and how many people will abuse this law?