Arizona appears on the verge of finally getting a law that will allow patients to obtain marijuana legally.
Figures released late Friday show Proposition 203 ahead by 4,421 votes out of more than 1.6 million cast.
Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell, whose office has the last of the ballots to be counted, told Capitol Media Services she has only about 10,000 ballots yet to be tallied.
That includes about 2,000 provisional ballots, largely those which were cast by voters at the polls on election day by people who had previously requested and been mailed an early ballot. Purcell said her office needs to make sure they had not voted twice.
Purcell noted the trend in the provisional ballots has been running close to 2-1 in favor of the measure.
That leaves just 8,000 early ballots from voters who over-inked their marks, resulting in a bleed-through to the other side of the paper.
Among early Maricopa voters, the measure is losing by a 48-52 percent margin. And County Elections Director Karen Osborne said the last of these early ballots being counted are running virtually the same as those already tallied.
If that pattern holds, there would be fewer than 4,200 additional votes against the measure and more than 3,800 in favor, making it virtually impossible to bridge that 4,421-vote edge plus any others added to that from the remaining provisional ballots.
Among Maricopa County voters who went to the polls on election day, the "no'' votes exceeded those in favor. But all of those ballots already have been counted.
Proposition 203 actually won in only Pima, Coconino and Santa Cruz counties. But the big margin of victory in Pima -- by more than 43,000 votes out of nearly 306,000 cast -- was enough to cancel out opposition elsewhere, especially with the measure losing overall in Maricopa County by fewer than 4,000 votes.
Carolyn Short, who chairs Keep AZ Drug Free, said it could have been worse.
"We were predicted to lose by a landslide,'' she said. And Short said foes could have killed the measure if they had more time and more money.
Overall, she said opponents had less than $20,000. By contrast, supporters had spent close to $740,000 by mid-October, the last report available, though the lion's share of that was to hire paid circulators to get the measure on the ballot.
Assuming the final vote tally holds, nothing will change immediately. The measure gives state health officials 120 days after the effective date of the law -- when the results are certified -- to set up the procedures. That puts the likely start of the system in late February.
This is actually the third time Arizona voters have approved a law allowing doctors to give them the legal go-ahead to obtain marijuana.
An initiative approved in 1996 and re-ratified two years later allowing doctors to prescribe otherwise illegal drugs to patients never took effect. That's because the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency threatened to revoke the prescription-writing privileges of any physician who wrote such an order.
This year's version got around that problem by saying a patient needs only a written "recommendation'' by a doctor, a model copied from successful medical marijuana measures in other states. And the Obama administration has said it does not intend to bring federal drug charges against patients in states with medical marijuana laws.
The vote is a defeat for county prosecutors and sheriffs who lined up against the measure, as did Gov. Jan Brewer. It also comes over the concerns expressed by state Health Director Will Humble who said he fears the measure will lead to abuse, as it has in other states.
But Andrew Myers, the campaign director for Proposition 203, said this initiative is different.
"We've been talking throughout this entire campaign about what this industry needs to look like and how we want to be a model for the rest of the country,'' he said. Myers said it was crafted "so it doesn't create the kind of problems we've experienced in places like California and Colorado.''
California in particular has been a poster child for those arguing against the measure.
The law there allows doctors to recommend marijuana for not only cancer, AIDS, glaucoma and migraines but for "any other illness for which marijuana provides relief.'' That, in turn, has created a cottage industry of walk-in doctors and dispensaries who provide the necessary certification.
By contrast, the Arizona law has a specific list of conditions which would let a doctor write a recommendation. And the number of dispensaries is limited to one for every 10 pharmacies around the state, a figure that currently computes out to about 125.
Short, however, said people were willing to vote for the measure because they "didn't know about it.''
"Many, many Arizonans are simply not fully informed,'' she said.
She also said that the Marijuana Policy Project, which financed the Arizona campaign, has had more than a dozen years to perfect its campaign in other states before bringing the issue to Arizona.
Matthew Benson, press aide to Secretary of State Ken Bennett, said only Maricopa County has outstanding provisional and early ballots.
The only thing left after that, he said, are some ballots with write-in candidates. But Benson said that won't affect the initiative because there is no write-in option on the yes-no question.
FYJIMO posted at 10:50 pm on Fri, Nov 12, 2010.
I will be waiting patiently.
dedelage posted at 5:19 am on Sat, Nov 13, 2010.
Well, I guess even with no tax hike we are going to make money. OK potheads smoke your weed and say you have to have it. But, the minute you step out of your house, you are in public. They will have new fines for under the infulence of a controlled substance. Instead of getting you for drunk and disorderly, they will get you for being under the influence & disoderly. You get caught stoned while driving, it will be 3 times more to pay for the ticket, licence revolked and lots of fines. So, go ahead, smoke your weed ya bunch of Old hippies and 20-somethings who are dumb as a bag of hammers. Your 30-somethings.. you are still trying to find out what generation you are. I look forward to watching the lines at the drug test clinics get smaller and smaller. More money for us the real tax payers. So, go ahead, toke up potheads, I look forward to seeing you pay for tickets, fines and soon homes seized under the Ricco Act and see your kids put in foster homes because you will be deemed unsuitable parents and fired from every job you have! I am looking forward to the passage of this. Yup, more jobs we can get because you cannot stay off the weed. And no matter how many degrees you have, they will not touch you after you come up hot on a urinalysis. Buahahahahaha!!!!! Stupid Potheads.
SethCold posted at 5:45 am on Sat, Nov 13, 2010.
I think that too many Californian's have moved here and want this thing to pass!
Poorman posted at 6:44 am on Sat, Nov 13, 2010.
Don't use the stuff, but its about time it passes,it passed twice before,but the do gooders figured out a way so it never got implemented.We see what they come up with this time if anything.
beefrits posted at 6:51 am on Sat, Nov 13, 2010.
Call me a dinosaur but I can't avoid the fear that the easier we make it for people to vote, the easier it gets to scam the system. Is it really too much to ask that voters make the effort to go to a polling location to cast their vote on Nov 2? Of course provisions need to be in place for those physically unable to travel, but for the rest of us, early voting, mail in ballots are unnecessary.
Voting should be serious business and I'm not sure I want decisions that directly affect my life in the hands of people who think that this minor effort is unreasonable. And God help us if internet voting is ever adopted. Our elections will end up being decided by hackers in China or Nigeria.
jdevall posted at 7:01 am on Sat, Nov 13, 2010.
This isn't about legalization of MJ. It's about providing relief to those in constant pain and unbearable nausea, where the patient can't eat. Pain pills are slowly killing off patients. This is simply an alternative to those in pain. It's a better alternative to alcohol and pain pills, for some. The powerful Mormon lobby could not defeat this bill.
ElPeneDeCaballo posted at 7:03 am on Sat, Nov 13, 2010.
I will be opening up a fast food restaurant next to every medical marijuana clinic.
SethCold posted at 7:21 am on Sat, Nov 13, 2010.
Beef@ I guess I am one also, a dinasour I mean! Would hate for this to happen, look at what ACORN was able to do, and the influence of Oprah for this administration to be voted in. People at times can't think for themselves. See it all the time.[sad]
jdevall posted at 7:50 am on Sat, Nov 13, 2010.
Carolyn Short is a MORON...
manini posted at 8:21 am on Sat, Nov 13, 2010.
If this passes, we'll probably have a bumper Marijuana crop in the Tonto National Forest run by illegal MX Drug Cartel contract growers (40,000 plants + per patch with over $20MILLION in POT DEA had to destroy this year alone) next spring 2011 + MX Drug Cartel mules hiking overtime thru Pinal County Sheriff Babeu's turf trying to keep these Californicator-expatriates supplied with dope...hehehe.[sad]
Accuracy posted at 10:24 am on Sat, Nov 13, 2010.
The California medical marijuana statute is causing problems in that state.
Fourteen years since Californians passed the first-in-the-nation medical marijuana law, where pot is not just for the sick. Hundreds of medical marijuana doctors, operating without official scrutiny, have helped make it available to nearly anyone who wants it. They need a card issued by a doctor to be able to use marijuana, and there are doctors known for issuing cards to anyone who comes into their office.
Arizona voters were literally split evenly on the issue of allowing marijuana use for medical purposes, leaving the proposition far too close to call.
If Arizona passes Proposition 203, to legalize medical marijuana in Arizona, many of the same problems may plague Arizona. And some doctors in Arizona will also abuse their authority to extend pot-using privileges.
jmutt1 posted at 10:29 am on Sat, Nov 13, 2010.
It's amazing how misinformed and blind some of these political, religious, and one sided groups are about the real truth of marijuana and it's real benefits and effects.
Everyone just knows about marijuana effects from what the media and law enforcement showing only the bad side and the false accusations of the ones arrested on drug use which was not the effect of marijuana but caused by other drugs. Come on people do your research about marijuana and you will see that what you have been told about it is completely false.
chaney1010 posted at 10:39 am on Sat, Nov 13, 2010.
Legalize it and TAX IT!!!
Rich posted at 10:43 am on Sat, Nov 13, 2010.
Well, the Mexican cartels won't be thrilled over the loss of their monopoly. Arpaio won't be thrilled about not having excuses to raid the funds for his jails. Babeu won't be able to shoot at his officers and blame it on the cartels anymore. Boy, if this passes so many people are going to be so unhappy.
Sandpiper posted at 12:34 pm on Sat, Nov 13, 2010.
The odds are that the Cannabis, will become commercialized and huge farms will become common place, of course with large farms come large corporation. Which will cause the cost of growing and distribution to become very expensive? Then as was stated earlier it will become a big cash cow for the governments at all levels. Possibility at lower levels the growing of Cannabis, will be attempted. But I think the cost of doing it though low level growth may not be a good investment because the costs of the resources will possible be going up dramatically. Also they will be contending with the commercial growers who in time will produce a better product at a lower price.
esnox82 posted at 4:44 pm on Sat, Nov 13, 2010.
I love the all the haters who think anyone who smokes pot is going to ruin the country. When is the last time anyone heard about someone who smoked way too much weed an went on a killing spree? Most likely they'll toke up and go out on the town for a spree of fast food sampling and driving 15 mph under the speed limit. Get a grip people; most pot smokers are more responsible individuals than the critics who have 3 or 4 alcoholic beverages then drive themselves home from the country club.
Hotcopone posted at 5:16 pm on Sat, Nov 13, 2010.
What people are missing is now that it appears to be a winner, the dispensaries will actually have a positive impact for the valley. With each dispensary it will (est) make a profit of anywhere from 250k a year to 1 million per year.
All that money will stay in AZ and be spent in AZ. Now the State can come out and tax the hell out of it (which they should) . Do the math folks. With 120 dispensaries in the State that should bring in about another 120 million ( I'm using low figures) PROFIT which most likely will be spent here. Taxing it will bring in additional revenue for the state.
CA is doing well over 1 billion in profits in their state. I have to agree that our Government has spewed nothing but negatives about MJ when actually there aren't any real drawbacks with it.
Most people don't want to hear that our Gov't is more corrupt than they are known to be but they control a huge amount of the drugs that come and go from the USA.. Just watch and see if this sort of medicinal drug takes on in most states our Gov't will reverse itself and allow it so they too can tax it.
Don't think for one minute that the CIA doesn't sell the drugs that they confiscate ( MJ, cocaine, herion and more) on large scales to be able to do their covert operations that aren't necessarily known by the Pentagon as they can't be funded for their under handed operations going around the world.
snipes posted at 7:59 am on Sun, Nov 14, 2010.
I'm already celebrating, er, I mean "medicating".
nausds posted at 11:24 am on Sun, Nov 14, 2010.
After reading all of the comments posted I can't help but laugh at those of you against this proposition. It isn't a surprise that every elected leader in this conservative state of ours is against this either. Elected leaders are only concerned about one thing, being elected the next time. They don't want to have their opponent use this against them, and they will since we have a majority of Republican/Conservative people in Arizona and those are the people who are mainly (not all but mainly) against this. And anyone who disagrees with that statement isn't looking at the facts. Overwhelmingly the people on the right in this country and our state are opposed to legalizing MJ.
Republican/Conservatives constantly use fear (and religion) to get the uninformed to vote their way. Can anyone sight an example of someone dying or causing a death due to MJ? And the gateway drug argument is also a joke. Yes there are people that over do it, but you can say that about shopping and eating, are we going to make those illegal? Both alcohol and cigerettes are many times worse for your heath and the health of others then MJ is....these are facts people. And to the point of Prop 203, MJ has been proven to help those who have cancer get their appitite back as well as other cures.
This proposition will not only help sick people but will also help raise badly needed money for our state.
hoopydreams posted at 8:47 am on Mon, Nov 15, 2010.
I really don't think that anyone for or against this proposition really read it. 1. If doctors, dispensaries, and patients read the piece of legislation, not just anyone with a stubbed toe can get a card. 2. As for the cartels: this will weaken their business. IN fact if it was completely legal they would have NO BUSINESS. Because if you could buy from a local grower or grow it yourself why would you buy grass clippings from the cartel? But that's another subject all together. 3. Do some research! Do you know the sideaffects for drugs like Oxycontin, Vicoden, or Percocet? They are physically addictive and are easy to overdose on. Do you know how many people die a year from overdoses on opiate painkillers. About 14,000. Do you know how many people die a year on pot overdoses: 0. A big fat 0. And physically pot is NOT Addictive. It may be emotionally, but not physically. That means you can just one day stop smoking it and not die. Try doing that with Xanax. You can't. If you have a 15 year habit and just stop taking Xanax you can die.
And FYI: Alcohol and Tobacco are the biggest gateway drugs. But it's pretty hard now a days for teenagers to buy it. In fact it's easier for them to get pot in the black market. Regulation will just make it harder.
@SethCold: "People at times can't think for themselves. See it all the time. " I agree with this completely for both sides of the argument. Do some research Seth for both sides.
TruthSeeker posted at 1:05 pm on Mon, Nov 15, 2010.
What nobody has mentioned is that in other states where "medical" marijuana has already been passed, this measure has already been abused by long time pot smokers. Now that we are saddled with this albatross, I think the dispensaries should be totally transparent. They should be able to publish just how many "patients" come in and what "diseases" they are treating; i.e., cancer, glacoma, arthritis, et al. This could be done without violating HIPA laws. Names do not have to be published. I just want to know what diseases are legitimately being treated. This would eliminate those who have bogus back aches and/or pains. I have a severe pain in my trapezius muscle every three months or so. Ben Gay, self-massage, and a heating pad work just fine for me.
nausds posted at 9:18 pm on Mon, Nov 15, 2010.
TruthSeeker: Using your rantional of publishing numbers of patients and what diseases are being treated is absurd. In that case every pharmacy and doctor should be doing that same thing. You want to know what diseases are being treated by MJ? Are you at the same time worried about how many people are being prescribed and treated with Oxycontin, Vicoden, Percocet or any other 'leagally' prescribred drug and what disease they have in order to be prescribed them? Why don't you start with those drugs since people actually can get and do get addicted to them and they actually cause more problems then MJ ever has.
Sorry to hear about the pain in your trapezius muscle and I am glad that Ben Gay (medication), self massages and a heating pad works for you. But at the same time someone else with the same pain may find MJ helps them better then the medication, massages and heating pad that helps you. Either way, as long as they are not hurting or affecting anyone else why would you care?
pnutman posted at 9:11 am on Tue, Nov 16, 2010.
It appears from all I have read and heard about the Cost factor relating for the State Dept of Health in putting a game plan together for "MaryJane" for the "sicko's" THAT--State Legislator's should pull any funding for the Study etc which will be so costly to the state-Cease everything until the state get's its BUDGET deficit in order. They are cutting school's, police, fire, but they can find money for putting a plan together for MJ...Sorry it does not compute.