Efforts Underway to Repeal Marijuana Law

Keep AZ Drug Free News Release:Keep AZ Drug Free announces its enthusiastic support for HCR 2003, a bill introduced by State Representative John Kavanagh to refer Arizona’s “medical” marijuana law back to the 2014 ballot. Voters deserve the chance to repeal a bad law, which was deceptively promoted by out-of-state interests.In 2010, Keep AZ Drug Free was the official ballot opposition committee registered with the Secretary of State to oppose Proposition 203, the so-called “medical” marijuana initiative. The initiative was written and financed by the Marijuana Policy Project, a national pro-drug organization out of Washington, D.C. that advocates for the legalization of marijuana. The 2010 initiative very narrowly passed, with a mere 50.1 percent of the vote.“The marijuana lobby wanted us to believe the law was about compassion for sick people, but the data shows that the pot goes almost entirely to recreational use,” said Ed Gogek, MD, an addiction psychiatrist and board member of Keep AZ Drug Free.Of the approximately 34,000 patients, fewer than four percent get their marijuana for cancer, while 90 percent of Arizona’s marijuana patients get their marijuana for "pain." And, three-fourths of the marijuana patients are male, which matches exactly the demographics of adults diagnosed with marijuana abuse.A recent Associated Press report stated that, in Arizona, 24 doctors have written three-fourths of the marijuana recommendations.The editorial board of The Arizona Republic recently said, “Voters were misled in 2010 when they passed the medical marijuana initiative. Medicine is prescribed by doctors and picked up at pharmacies. It doesn’t come through pot docs operating out of glammed-up head shops.” http://arizonarepublic.az.newsmemory.com/?token=7c0ad5575ad4621c48d6f45497328491&cnum=134552&fod=1111111“Any benefits to the few participants in the marijuana program who are seriously ill are overwhelmingly outweighed by the harms to our kids and communities. It is in the best interests of all Arizonans to repeal this law,” said Carolyn Short, chairman of Keep AZ Drug Free.