Keep AZ Drug Free, former ballot opposition committee

Pro-marijuana groups are playing on fears about government, hinting that the FDA is captive to special interests and doesn’t care about regular people. But it’s not just the FDA that says marijuana isn’t medicine. The American Cancer Society,  The American Glaucoma Society and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society all say there is little evidence of benefit [...]

I am not against the medical use of cannabis; I am against Proposition 203. It’s a back door route to legalization, which would do far more harm than good. Colorado is changing their law to put pot docs out of business, but Prop 203 will allow them here. And in Arizona, once a referendum is [...]

Prop 203 protects pot-smokers in ways we’d never tolerate for people who abused alcohol or prescription drugs. Prop 203 says marijuana cardholders can’t be prosecuted for DUI based solely on “the presence of metabolites or components of marijuana that appear in insufficient concentration to cause impairment.” An employer can’t discipline an employee or send him [...]

Prop 203 will increase crime, not decrease it as its supporters claim. Here’s why: Nearly all addictive drugs cause crime and violence, including alcohol, and almost all the crime in this country is drug- and alcohol-related.  Most of this crime, approximately 60 percent, is simply because people who are drunk or high do stupid, violent [...]

If Prop 203 passes, there will be more DUIs and more fatal auto accidents. The research on stoned driving and the reports from states with medical marijuana laws make it clear, when it comes to driving, marijuana poses all the same problems that alcohol does. Marijuana is the culprit in one-third of Montana’s DUI traffic [...]

Proposition 203 will increase teenage marijuana use, and regular marijuana use is especially harmful to teenagers. Research shows that teenagers who smoke pot frequently have difficulty with  memory, attention and problem-solving, find it harder to learn, get lower grades, and are less likely to finish high school or college. Once they’ve finished or left school, they have higher job turnover, less satisfying careers [...]

Proposition 203 is basically dishonest. The ballot says it’s for “terminally or seriously ill patients,” but in other states that passed similar laws, anyone can get pot, and hardly any goes to the seriously ill. In Montana fewer than 3 percent of the medical marijuana patients have cancer, AIDS or glaucoma–the serious diseases the marijuana [...]

I’ve practiced psychiatry for 25 years, working in private practice, community mental health, and for several years with the homeless in Phoenix. In my practice, I use homeopathy and nutrition along with conventional medications, but the subspecialty that takes up most of my time is addiction psychiatry. Even so, I always thought medical marijuana was [...]

This week I’ve heard both Democratic and Republican candidates say that even if you’re in favor of medical marijuana, Proposition 203 is a really bad law. Briefly, here’s why, and the links document every fact: Prop 203 is written to protect pot-smokers, not the rest of us. It allows marijuana users to drive under the [...]