cannabisnews.com: Law Enforcers Assail Pot Effort Law Enforcers Assail Pot Effort Posted by CN Staff on October 30, 2002 at 12:30:02 PT By Christina Leonard Source: AZCentral.com More than a dozen law enforcement organizations united against Arizona's latest marijuana ballot initiative Tuesday, saying well-financed advertisements supporting the measure have misled voters in an attempt to tug at their heartstrings."It has been marketed as medical marijuana proposition. This is not true," Phoenix Police Chief Harold Hurtt said. "It is the decriminalization of marijuana for everyone, to include those who would expose this drug to our children." Leaders of the police organizations, which represent about 20,000 active and retired officers throughout the state, said they want voters to know the truth about Proposition 203. The Nov. 5 ballot measure would require the Arizona Department of Public Safety to distribute the drug for free to those carrying a doctor's note. And it would decriminalize possession of small amounts of the drug.Police and prosecutors say it would also lessen the sanctions for those who use dangerous drugs."This proposition has very little to do with medical marijuana and everything to do with the legalization of all illegal drugs," said Roger Nelson, chief criminal deputy with the Yuma County Attorney's Office. "For all practical purposes, Proposition 203 would legalize heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana." However, backers of the proposition disagree, saying it would instead give judges greater flexibility by removing mandatory sentences for those drug crimes."There's no logic in them saying this lessens the punishment for drug offenses," said Dr. Jeffrey Singer, a Phoenix surgeon and proponent of the proposition. "They're just trying to scare people. They have a vested interest in locking people up. That's what they do for a living."DPS Director Dennis Garrett also voiced concerns about his department, which is facing budget cuts, finding the funds to distribute the marijuana and test it to ensure it's safe. DPS would either hand out confiscated marijuana, buy it from a federal research program or allow users to grow up to two plants. "It's just wrong," Garrett said. "There are three or four very, very wealthy individuals who are pushing this particular type of legislation change across the country . . . and I'm very concerned what they're trying to do here with their 30-second sound bites."More than $1 million has been spent promoting the proposition. Supporters say the initiative has safeguards. Patients would be given a state-issued card that entitled them only to get as much as 2 ounces of marijuana a month. Arizona voters approved a measure allowing marijuana with a doctor's prescription in 1996 and 1998, but lawmakers effectively rejected it by putting prescribing doctors at risk of losing their licenses."Please take the time to read (the initiative)," Phoenix police Cmdr. Joe Klima said. "This has a devastating effect on our community and our children."Note: Urge Arizona voters to reject Proposition 203.Source: AZCentral.com (AZ)Author: Christina LeonardPublished: October 30, 2002Copyright 2002 azcentral.comWebsite: http://www.azcentral.com/Contact: http://www.azcentral.com/help/comment-form.phpRelated Articles:Doctors Free To Discuss Pot Use with Patientshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14604.shtmlPot Plan a Smoke Screen, Foes Say http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14466.shtmlDrug Czar Urges 'No' Vote On Pot Proposition http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14424.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #14 posted by Dan B on October 30, 2002 at 21:50:33 PT: thanks, trainwreck Several months ago I responded to some remarks made by O'Reilly with regard to tobacco by suggesting that the same measure should be applied to cannabis, especially where medical use is involved. I would like to think that my note and others like it helped to give him pause before addressing this issue in public. For someone like O'Reilly, what you have described is really going out on a "liberal" limb. He used to be against it altogether, by the way (according to the way he responded to guests on his show, anyway), so this is a marked improvement.See, we do make a difference.Dan B [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by Richard Lake on October 30, 2002 at 21:39:49 PT: CANNABIS NEWS POSTING GUIDELINES CANNABIS NEWS POSTING GUIDELINES:Please stay on topic. Drug policy issues only with an emphasis on cannabis issues.Always ask yourself if it will benefit the discussion before posting a message.No links to websites or pages which are offensive or advocate drug use rather than drug policy reform.No personal attacks or put-downs. 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[ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by FoM on October 30, 2002 at 21:29:49 PT U.S. Called the Loser in War on Drugs By Kevin Sullivan and Mary Jordan, Washington Post Foreign ServiceThursday, October 31, 2002; Page A01 Benjamin Arellano Felix, the man accused of running Mexico's most ruthless drug cartel, said the United States has already lost its war on drugs and that violent trafficking gangs will thrive as long as Americans keep buying marijuana, cocaine and heroin.Complete Article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43513-2002Oct30.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by FoM on October 30, 2002 at 20:34:58 PT Current Arizona Poll Results Prop. 203 proposes to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana and allow its use for medical purposes. I vote Yes -- 59.78% I vote No -- 40.22% Total Votes -- 2260 Please Vote: http://www.azcentral.com/Poll Results: http://www.azcentral.com/#poll [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by DdC on October 30, 2002 at 20:20:01 PT If cops are politicians, who are the cops? More than a dozen law enforcement organizations united against Arizona's latest marijuana ballot initiative Tuesday, saying well-financed advertisements supporting the measure have misled voters in an attempt to tug at their heartstringsAs Sandy looked down from above... As 22 year old grieving vulnerable Kelly finds lawyer/cop sermens and that heathern devil weed marihuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others.... While dad says its ok in the living room, and agrees with Q-9 in keeping it off the highways. Including when you go buy it and are forced to drive home stoned or risk buying schwag. Oh thats Nevada cops. They all look alike. Arizona was legally doling it out before the Hearst Anslinger racism without problems... http://www.cannabinoid.com/boards/politics/media/35/35212.jpg"There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing, result from marijuana usage. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others." Harry Anslinger, U.S. Commissioner of Narcotics, testifying to Congress on why marijuana should be made illegal, 1937. (Marijuana Tax Act, signed Aug. 2, 1937; effective Oct. 1, 1937.) Anslinger was named Director of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics when it was formed in 1931 as part of the Treasury Department. Many people believe that he collaborated with industry giants to outlaw cannabis. It is known that Mr. Anslinger was aquainted with both the Hearsts (of Hearst Newspapers), and the DuPonts, of DuPont plastic fame. In the 1930s, Hearst, who owned newspapers (and timber) all over the country, started publishing sensationalist-type "news" stories about marijuana use. These stories, often written by Hearst or Anslinger himself, talked about the "insanity, criminality, and death" caused by smoking marijuana, sometimes after just one joint. This intense propaganda campaign led to a public outcry for anti-marijuana laws in many states. The Federal Government was only too happy to oblige. In 1937, DuPont had just patented a process to make plastics from oil and coal, as well as a new bleaching process for making paper from wood pulp. Also in 1937, the Marijuana Tax Stamp Act was passed, effectively prohibiting possession or use of marijuana. It was claimed to be needed to oversee and coordinate existing state law concerning cannabis. The Popular Mechanics 1938 The Billion Dollar Crop... http://www.jackherer.com/popmech.htmlThese are excerpts of Harry J. Anslinger's testimony before a Senate Hearing on marijuana in 1937. "... the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races." "Marihuana is an addictive drug which produces in its users insanity, criminality, and death." "You smoke a joint and you're likely to kill your brother." "marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind." Naha's Prescription for Bloated Police Budges...Old, discredited Nahas studies are still trotted out by the Drug Enforcement Administration today, and deliberately given to unknowledgeable parents' groups, churches, and PTAs as valid research regarding the evils of pot.The dissemination of Nahas' dangerous horror stories is paid for with your tax dollars, even years after the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 1976 specifically forbade Nahas from getting another penny of U.S. government money for cannabis studies because of his embarrassing research in the early 1970s.Dr. Heath/Tulane Study, 1974 The Hype: Brain Damage and Dead Monkeys http://www.jackherer.com/book/ch15.html Cannabis is Medicine...Get Over It! [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by John Tyler on October 30, 2002 at 18:30:11 PT Weak arguments Yes 58.71% No 41.29% Total Votes: 2015. The Prohibitionists are really coming up with some weak illogical arguments. "It's illegal 'cause it's illegal, and it should stay illegal 'cause we say so. You stoners can vote till the cows come home but it won't change anything as long as we are in control," said Phoenix Police Chief Harold Hurtt. [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by Had Enough on October 30, 2002 at 17:43:32 PT Poll There is a poll at this link, lower left side.58.56% yes41.44% no1957 voteshttp://www.azcentral.com/ [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by Nasarius on October 30, 2002 at 16:12:40 PT Huh? "It is the decriminalization of marijuana for everyone, to include those who would expose this drug to our children."There are also police officers who enjoy beating the crap out of prisoners. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by firedog on October 30, 2002 at 16:11:12 PT Police unions Actually, the police unions are there to serve and protect... the police, that is...Those with a vested interest in Prohibition will support it until the bitter end. And when it does come to an end, they'll try to Prohibit something else so they can keep their jobs. They're not exactly qualified to do any other kind of work, and the economy doesn't look so hot...Maybe we need to address the issue of job training for those who will be put out of work when Prohibition comes to an end. It could be part of a ballot initiative... this would really highlight how much of a vested interest the police have in keeping pot illegal. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by The GCW on October 30, 2002 at 16:00:15 PT Police interests = job security. The police unions job is not to serve and protect. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by CorvallisEric on October 30, 2002 at 15:35:44 PT Bill O'Reilly Thanks, trainwreck. I think it's really useful to have conservatives and Republicans on our side. Every voter survey I've ever seen shows Republicans supporting drug policy reform of any kind much less than any others. O'Reilly really doesn't like Ashcroft. Yesterday he called him an "incompetent boob" but thought him honest. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Dankhank on October 30, 2002 at 15:16:23 PT: Need a better job ... .....DPS Director Dennis Garrett also voiced concerns about his department, which is facing budget cuts, finding the funds to distribute the marijuana and test it to ensure it's safe. DPS would either hand out confiscated marijuana, buy it from a federal research program or allow users to grow up to two plants. .....I will be happy to test ALL of the Cannabis they have for efficacy. Hire me ... [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by trainwreck on October 30, 2002 at 13:14:50 PT Bill O'Reilly I was driving this morning and listening to the Bill O'Reilly talk radio show...the topic was marijuana legalization.O'Reilly has his moments. At one point he suggested "Lets send John Ashcroft a pound of medical MJ and make him smoke it." He seems to have a pretty good understanding of the medical issues, and he explained to callers that opiate-based drugs, while they do provide pain relief, are too "heavy" for many people to take on a continual basis. Anyway he was strongly in favor of medical MJ, also in favor of decriminalization, but against outright legalization. It was interesting to hear these views coming from a prominent "conservative" media figure. Tide is turning... [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by delariand on October 30, 2002 at 12:51:30 PT I knew antis were stupid, but... "This proposition has very little to do with medical marijuana and everything to do with the legalization of all illegal drugs," said Roger Nelson, chief criminal deputy with the Yuma County Attorney's Office. "For all practical purposes, Proposition 203 would legalize heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana." Where did they get this tripe? [ Post Comment ] Post Comment