cannabisnews.com: Officers, Officials Speak Out vs. Prop. 203





Officers, Officials Speak Out vs. Prop. 203
Posted by CN Staff on August 27, 2002 at 08:09:40 PT
By David L. Teibel
Source: Tucson Citizen 
'You legalize this, I guarantee you the death rate will go up. We don't need to legalize this garbage.' - DPS Sgt. Ed Slechta, president of the Southern Arizona DUI Task Force, speaking about motor vehicle fatalities. Top local law officers and the Arizona Diamondbacks vice president and general manager are opposing a medical marijuana proposition they say is a smoke screen for legalized pot.
Under Proposition 203, some of the marijuana would be distributed free by state Department of Public Safety officers."The folks at DPS are going to be the biggest drug dealers in Arizona," said Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall.Arizonans should be making it more difficult, not easier, to get marijuana, said Joe Garagiola Jr., the Diamondbacks' vice president and general manager.Passage of the proposition will not make it easier for anyone other than medical patients to get the drug to ease pain, said Samuel Vagenas, campaign consultant for The People Have Spoken, the measure's sponsor."It will make it easier for medical patients, with a formal review by the state Department of Health and an official state identification card," Vagenas said.Opposition to the proposition, which will be on Arizona's general-election ballot, is part of a statewide campaign kicked off here and in Phoenix yesterday.Battleground Arizona's theme is "Don't buy the lie." Garagiola is chairman of the campaign.He and Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley held a morning press conference in Phoenix opposing the marijuana measure before Garagiola came here to join LaWall, South Tucson Police Chief Sixto Molina, Pima County Sheriff's Department Assistant Chief Martha Cramer and DPS Sgt. Ed Slechta, who also is president of the Southern Arizona DUI Task Force, at an afternoon press conference at the downtown Pima County Justice Court.If approved, the proposition would make possession of two ounces or less of marijuana a civil violation punishable by a maximum fine of $250.The law also would permit doctors to write recommendations, not prescriptions, allowing certain patients to obtain two ounces of marijuana a month from DPS and to grow two marijuana plants for their own use.The doctor's recommendation would allow people to get registration cards, and DPS would be required to supply patients with up to two ounces of marijuana a month from pot seized in large drug cases.Among other things, the proposition would increase maximum penalties by 50 percent for violent crimes committed while on drugs."When voters find out what they really voted for was the legalization of marijuana, they'll say, 'I voted for what?' " Garagiola said. "It's a bad thing, I think it's a bad thing."Vagenas said proposition supporters do not want pot legalized."The legalization of marijuana is something we're opposed to, period," he said.LaWall cited the deaths caused by drugs: "Drug abuse kills 19,000 Americans every single year. Proposition 203 makes marijuana even more available than it is now."Passage would make matters worse, says Slechta."You legalize this, I guarantee you the death rate will go up," he said referring to motor vehicle fatalities. "We don't need to legalize this garbage."He said nine states have passed medical marijuana laws and 11 have decriminalized possession of small amounts for recreational use "and there has been no high drug use in those states."Vagenas said Ohio treats possession of up to three ounces of recreational marijuana as a civil, not criminal, offense. Snipped: Complete Article: http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/local/8_27_02marijuana.htmlSource: Tucson Citizen (AZ)Author: David L. TeibelPublished: August 27, 2002Copyright: 2002 Tucson CitizenContact: letters tucsoncitizen.comWebsite: http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/Related Articles: Marijuana Initiative Foes Fight 'Lie' http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13897.shtmlProp. 203: The Debate Over Pot Laws http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13869.shtmlIt's Time We Scrap Drug Laws Mired in Failure http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13868.shtmlMarijuana Initiative Qualifies for Arizona Ballothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13727.shtml 
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Comment #12 posted by The GCW on August 27, 2002 at 22:19:31 PT
LEAP to change the policy to cage.
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP)."Dedicated to our brother, Constable Gil Puder, a good cop and a fearless fighter for sensible drug policy."http://www.leap.cc/ 
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Comment #11 posted by overtoke on August 27, 2002 at 17:51:55 PT:
Another Dumb Cop
"I guarantee more deaths."Isn't it against the law to make that kind of threat?
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Comment #10 posted by karkulus on August 27, 2002 at 17:21:22 PT
"Legalize this, and the death rate will go up"
 YEP!,sounds like a threat ,to me!
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Comment #9 posted by AlvinCool on August 27, 2002 at 16:06:54 PT
Vote, gee I didn't know what I was voting on! 
"When voters find out what they really voted for was the legalization of marijuana, they'll say, 'I voted for what?' " Garagiola said. "It's a bad thing, I think it's a bad thing."HA! They assume that voters will just sleep through this and vote yes as they say they did in their defence at having supported this to the hilt, then reversing.Hey John Wayne, I wonder if this passes will they all quit or just shrug and start handing out the marijuana? 
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Comment #8 posted by Prop203 on August 27, 2002 at 12:07:18 PT:
Poll
Last night on the local news they did a poll infavor of 20372% yes for 203
28% no for 203
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Comment #7 posted by The GCW on August 27, 2002 at 11:54:36 PT
Officers, Officials 
are the problem,NOT CANNABIS.
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Comment #6 posted by BGreen on August 27, 2002 at 11:25:51 PT
jvthc
If they understood logic, we wouldn't even be having this discussion.
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Comment #5 posted by jvthc on August 27, 2002 at 11:22:33 PT:
Death rate....what are they thinking?
I assume when they stated "Legalize this, and the death rate will go up" that they're talking about traffic. That argument doesn't stand up to scrutiny.The people who smoke pot now do so without regard to law. The people who don't choose not to because the don't want to. A very tiny percentage choose to avoid pot strictly because it's illegal. They're making the assumption that the punishment's for possession and use have curtailed use. Figures from elsewhere in the developed world, including Canada's recent study on the subject, clearly state that use volume and the law have virtualy zero correlation.So, the imaginary driving pot smoker's they're predicting are actually already here! We've been living with that statistic all this time. By far the largest pot smoking segment are young people, who won't be able to smoke after legalization anyway. The primary location for them to smoke is, unfortunately, in the car!If anything, those few who feel they now have a legitimate choice in location are less likely to drive around smoking, actually serving to drop the feared, imaginary statistic. Besides, we don't need to lock up people 18 to 21 just because they're smoking. Take the license, sure - fine them ok, but even 6 months of prison may just end an otherwise promising college career, and we don't need to do that to ourselves and our budding adults.
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Comment #4 posted by knox42897 on August 27, 2002 at 11:08:23 PT:
biggest marijuana dealers
This is great. The DPS giving away free marijuana. Although I do feel sorry for the marijuana dealer who had his stash taken. I wonder if the DPS will let me make a political contribution to the marijuana dealers defense fund?
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Comment #3 posted by john wayne on August 27, 2002 at 10:25:52 PT
It's true
'You legalize this, I guarantee you the death rate will go up. We don't need to legalize this garbage.' - DPS Sgt. Ed Slechta, president of the Southern Arizona DUI Task Force, speaking about motor vehicle fatalities.Cops will be so bummed at having to jump off the pot-bust gravy train that they'll drink themselves into a stupor and start running their cars into stuff.
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Comment #2 posted by John Tyler on August 27, 2002 at 09:47:04 PT
Make the laws
For years I have heard law enforcement people say "we don't make the laws, we just enforce them". Now with changes in the laws in various states being discussed the law enforcement people are all over the place trying to having a say in the creation of some laws. As public servants type law enforcement people they should sit on the sidelines and shut up. They can speak as private citizens but not under color of authority. This is for the voters to decide. 
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Comment #1 posted by p4me on August 27, 2002 at 08:35:57 PT
Great pictures at the source 
Here is the link to the Tucson Citizen article as listed above by FoM: http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/local/8_27_02marijuana.htmlThe Citizen has photos of the oppositions background message. You know how Dim Son always stands in front of a background with a slogan on it to make the propaganda sink in. The pictures at the Citizen have "DON'T BUY THE LIE" on little stop signs. It is great. These guys are stupid. I sure would like some of those. The greatest lie is the Schedule One Lie and you have furnished the reformers with a good pattern for the next round of protest over MMJ. As Today's Aesop would say "People whose position is a house of cards should not speak of lies and should live in a house without glass."I think the supporters should use all of those signs as their own. Maybe instead of a red stop sign they could use a yellow yeild sign and out sticker them with their own slogan. I think the reformers could not have dictated a better slogan for the opposition. The law is all but passed.1,2
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