2010 Arizona Medical Campaign

W

Wretched420

Well-Known Member
Dear friends:
Fresh off our winning ballot initiative campaigns in Michigan and Massachusetts, the Marijuana Policy Project has just launched a campaign to pass a statewide medical marijuana ballot initiative campaign in Arizona.
If passed in November 2010, the initiative would protect Arizona patients from arrest and jail for using marijuana with their doctors' recommendation. This would make Arizona the 14th medical marijuana state (or possibly the 15th, 16th, or even 17th, depending on what successes we have between now and then).
We're feeling good about this campaign because in November we passed a similar initiative in Michigan with a whopping 63% of the vote — and we know we can do it again in Arizona.
But the first thing we need to do is get the initiative placed on the ballot. To do that, we must collect 153,365 valid signatures from Arizona voters, which means we need to collect about 250,000 gross signatures. We know from our past successful signature drives, like in Michigan, that it costs about $2 to collect every signature (because of the costs of paying canvassers, checking validity, and so forth), which means it will take $500,000 to fund this stage of the campaign.
Want to be part of this exciting campaign and help protect another state's medical marijuana patients from arrest and jail? Please donate what you can here.
As you can see at the bottom of this message, a major philanthropist is willing to match your donation dollar-for-dollar, so we only need you and other MPP members to donate a total of $250,000. Arizona patients and I are grateful for anything you can do to help.
Sincerely,

Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
P.S. As I've mentioned in previous alerts, a major philanthropist has committed to match the first $2.35 million that MPP c
 
W

Wretched420

Well-Known Member
65% of Arizona voters support removing criminal penalties for the medical use of marijuana, according to a February 2009 poll. And voters have already passed medical marijuana initiatives twice in the state, in 1996 and 1998. Unfortunately, due to a technical error in the wording of these laws, they have failed to effectively protect medical marijuana patients from arrest. The initiative that will go before voters in 2010 will close this loophole and give patients the protection and peace of mind that Arizonans agree they deserve.

Right now, Arizona patients battling cancer, AIDS, and other life-threatening diseases face prison for trying to relieve their pain. By passing this initiative, we can stop this cruel and unnecessary policy.
What would Arizona’s medical marijuana initiative do?

  • Allow terminally and seriously ill patients who find relief from marijuana to use it with their doctors’ approval.
  • Protect these seriously ill patients from arrest and prosecution for the simple act of taking their doctor-recommended medicine.
  • Permit qualifying patients or their caregivers to legally purchase their medicine from tightly regulated clinics, as they would any other medicine -- so they need not purchase it from the criminal market.
  • Permit qualifying patients or their caregivers to cultivate their own marijuana for medical use if a regulated medical marijuana clinic is not located within 25 miles of the qualifying patient.
  • Create registry identification cards, so that law enforcement officials could easily tell who was a registered patient, and establish penalties for false statements and fraudulent ID cards.
  • Allow patients and their caregivers who are arrested to discuss their medical use in court.
  • Keep commonsense restrictions on the medical use of marijuana, including prohibitions on public use of marijuana and driving under the influence of marijuana.
Read the full text of the initiative.
 
W

Wretched420

Well-Known Member
The Arizona Medical Marijuana Policy Project (AMMPP) is a grassroots organization devoted to passing a medical marijuana initiative in Arizona in November 2010. Currently, seriously ill people who use marijuana under the advice of their doctor to treat illnesses such as cancer, AIDS and multiple sclerosis are subject to arrest and imprisonment. Simply for trying to stimulate their appetite or alleviate their pain.
We can change this. On November 2, 2010, Arizona voters could have a chance to vote to protect Arizona’s medical marijuana patients from arrest and jail. But the voters will not have that chance unless we collect more than 150,000 valid signatures to get the initiative on the ballot. We will be launching a signature drive within the next few weeks to accomplish this goal, and we will need your help.
Please volunteer, sign up to collect signatures, or donate today. And please check back with us often for updates about the launch of the signature drive and to see what other things we're working on.
 
W

Wretched420

Well-Known Member
In The Next 1-2 Weeks The Drive Will begin. We cant do this by ourselves we need help if your interested in helping please sign up to volunteer or get paid to collect signatures all helps!!


Sign up To Collect Signatures!
http://www.stoparrestingpatients.org/sign-gather-signatures


Volunteer!!
http://www.stoparrestingpatients.org/volunteer



all Donations go to fundung the campaign you can talk to me about donating or you can go straight through the site..
http://www.stoparrestingpatients.org/volunteer
 
joker152

joker152

Well-Known Member
keep up the good work! i registered to vote soley to help the iniative pass in my state a few years back
 
W

Wretched420

Well-Known Member
OK so the Campaign manager emailed me letting me know that the drive will kick off in the next few weeks they have a date of April 4th! they are Finalizing the language on the initiative making sure we get it down right i assume.. this is what stopped us last time the wording was not right so this time around im sure we will be fine!!

HELP DONATE!!!

email me or get in touch on the site posted a few threads back!!!
All donated proceeds will go towards funding the campaign!
help us get another state there rightful laws!!
 
W

Wretched420

Well-Known Member
heres the link for yourself http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2009/04/18/20090418med-marijuana0418.html

New push in Ariz. for medical marijuana

Voters OK'd prior efforts only to see them blocked

by Matthew Benson - Apr. 18, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
An initiative planned for the 2010 ballot would ask Arizona voters to legalize medical marijuana, setting up a California-style network of cannabis clubs and even allow some patients to grow their own drug supply.
It's the fourth time since 1996 that state voters have been asked to decriminalize marijuana as a medical treatment. Local supporters, backed by the national Marijuana Policy Project, have their sights set on the 2010 general election and plan to submit ballot language to the Secretary of State's Office as early as next week.
The initiative would allow individuals with illnesses ranging from cancer to HIV/AIDS or glaucoma to seek a doctor's recommendation for medical marijuana, according to draft ballot language obtained by The Arizona Republic.
Eligible individuals would be able to purchase up to 2 1/2 ounces of the drug every 14 days from a series of non-profit outlets, known as dispensaries. Patients in rural areas of the state could cultivate a limited number of their own marijuana plants.
Marijuana remains a Schedule 1 drug under federal guidelines, like heroin or LSD. But the initiative would shield from state prosecution the doctors who recommend marijuana for medical treatment, the dispensary workers who provide it and the patients who use it. Thirteen states already have legalized medical marijuana in some fashion, though only California has established a widespread network of dispensaries to distribute it.
Proponents of medical marijuana say it can relieve pain and suffering.
Supporters of the Arizona initiative say it would provide another treatment alternative to the desperately ill, sparing them and their family from having to brave the underground drug market and risk criminal prosecution.
"These people are facing a terrible choice," said Andrew Myers, campaign manager for the Arizona initiative. "It's either continue to suffer with debilitating effects or risk arrest and jail time."
Skeptics voice worry

Skeptics aren't so sure. They question the drug's medicinal benefits and wonder whether efforts to legalize it for the sick and dying are a prelude to decriminalization for everyone else in the future.
"Don't get blinded by the smokescreen," warned Rick Romley, a former Maricopa County attorney. "It's still a step toward legalization of marijuana. That's what it has been since Day 1."
Romley was in office in 1996 during the state's initial medical marijuana vote.
By a nearly 2-1 ratio, voters approved a ballot proposal that OK'd use of the drug for medical purposes, but lawmakers subsequently stripped the provision from the law.
In 1998, federal authorities threatened to revoke the license of physicians who prescribed the drug.
That same year, voters rejected a ballot attempt to require that the [COLOR=#2573C2 ! important][COLOR=#2573C2 ! important]federal [COLOR=#2573C2 ! important]government[/color][/color][/color] or Congress OK the use of medical marijuana before it could be prescribed by a doctor.
In 2002, Arizona voters rejected an effort to decriminalize possession of small quantities of marijuana and make the drug available free of charge to patients suffering from cancer and other diseases.
Medical-marijuana supporters think the timing is right to try once more. They believe they've solved the past licensing issue with their latest initiative, which requires that patients obtain a physician's "recommendation," rather than a prescription, to obtain the drug.
Additionally, new U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder recently indicated that federal authorities will not pursue cases involving medical marijuana in states that allow the practice, a reversal of Bush administration policy.
Backers of the initiative need to gather at least 153,000 valid signatures to qualify for the 2010 ballot. Myers is confident his group can do that and is girding for a multimillion-dollar campaign.
A degree of mercy

The issue of medical marijuana is personal for Ellen Terry Friedman.
In early 1988, the Tempe woman's father, Harold, was diagnosed with prostate cancer at the age of 70. The disease had spread to his bones.
His condition deteriorated over the next 18 months. Toward the end, Harold was no longer undergoing chemotherapy or radiation. He was under hospice care and on morphine. But he still suffered.
So, in her father's last month or so of life, Friedman said, the oncologist suggested the family obtain marijuana to dull Harold's pain and help with his nausea. She won't say how the family got the drug, but it did.
"It was a shocking position to be put in, let's put it that way," she said. "Nobody should be put in that position."
The marijuana seemed to help, Friedman said. Her father regained a bit of appetite. He found a degree of mercy.
"It was a horrible, painful death, but it was eased somewhat," she said. "We wanted him to die with the least pain, and the medical marijuana was an integral part of that."
Conflict continues

Romley sympathizes with those who suffer. But he worries that some patients or doctors would misuse the law, especially given a provision in the initiative that would allow patients to obtain the drug if they displayed symptoms such as severe pain or seizures. What constitutes severe pain would be a matter for a doctor's judgment.
State Sen. Jonathan Paton, R-Tucson, has similar concerns. But he's conflicted on the issue of medical marijuana. Although he worries "this is just the gateway to legalizing marijuana," Paton also has seen the drug used with medical benefits.
Before dying of cancer a couple of years ago, a friend of Paton's used marijuana to ease the suffering.
"He smoked pot because he was too sick," said Paton, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "He couldn't keep the (pain) pills down."
If marijuana is a legitimate medical treatment, Romley said, backers should seek its legalization through the health community and federal government, not at the ballot box.
"I just don't believe we decide what's good medicine at the ballot box," he said. "The vast bulk of the medical community has never pushed it to be a drug legalized for medicinal purposes."
Myers countered that federal drug laws continue to make medical research involving marijuana difficult.
And while he conceded that the national Marijuana Policy Project has broader aims with regard to the drug's legalization, he said the Arizona initiative is narrowly written with its intent solely on helping people fighting severe illness.
"There are 13 other states with medical-marijuana laws," Myers said. "None of those 13 has moved to total legalization."
 
W

Wretched420

Well-Known Member
Group Wants Medical Pot on Ballot in 2010


Daniel Scarpinato
April 22, 2009
Arizona Daily Star

PHOENIX — A doctor's note will allow Arizonans to buy marijuana — or even grow the drug in their home — if a national group seeking voter approval gets its way next year.
The group has drafted a measure they hope to get on the 2010 ballot that would legalize medical marijuana here and set up a system of non-profit "dispensaries."
Supporters say marijuana use has great benefits for people suffering from serious illnesses ranging from cancer to HIV. But critics have long argued legalizing medical use is a step towards full legalization of a drug they see as a "gateway" to more serious addictions.
If the backers get their measure on next year's ballot, it will mark the fourth time since 1996 Arizona voters have a chance to weigh-in on the issue.
"It's the right thing to do," said Andrew Myers, the Arizona campaign manager hired by the national Marijuana Policy Project. "It provides a level of mercy to these people who are suffering and dying."
Organizers have yet to submit draft language to the Secretary of State's Office. But Myers said the initiative would say if someone were to get a "recommendation" from a licensed physician they could not be prosecuted in the state for marijuana possession.
There's two ways patients could get their hands on the pot: Either at the non-profit dispensaries, or if they're 25 miles away from one, they could grow the drug in their own home.
Those using the drug would still be violating federal law — which is why doctors can't give a prescription like other drugs — but on the state level, it would be legal.
"We shouldn't be interfering with the doctor-patient relationship," Myers said.
Arizonans have showed a willingness to legalize the practice for medical purposes before. In 1996, voters approved medical marijuana — only to see the Legislature essentially repeal the law afterward.
Two years later, voters re-ratified the '96 measure. But despite that, doctors have been unwilling to prescribe the drug because of the threat of losing their license.
A 2002 initiative with a provision to reduce the penalty for possession of up to two ounces to a fine was rejected by voters.
This time supporters say they've worked out the legal issues by avoiding the mention of prescriptions. And there are other elements in the measure to win voters over. The state could only issue licenses for 120 dispensaries, none of which could be within 500 feet of a school.
"We're sensitive to the public's concerns about these facilities," said Myers, adding of the 13 states that have legalized medical marijuana, none have legalized it for recreational use.
But some are still skeptical.
State Sen. Ron Gould, R-Lake Havasu, says he doesn't have a problem with people using marijuana for medical purposes.
But he said the dispensaries — similar to a system used in California — are prone to abuse.
"I think that's actually how they abuse it," Gould said — although he says doctors prescribe other drugs that are more addictive and dangerous than pot.
Sen. Linda Lopez, D-Tucson, says even if the move is a step toward legalization, she's not threatened, pointing to some of the greater societal effects she sees from alcohol.
A champion of legalizing assisted suicide, Lopez said the state shouldn't try to be "medical arbiters."
"Marijuana has been very helpful for people to deal with pain," she said.
The group has until July 2010 to gather more than 150,000 signatures.
 
W

Wretched420

Well-Known Member
Group Wants Medical Pot on Ballot in 2010


Daniel Scarpinato
April 22, 2009
Arizona Daily Star

PHOENIX — A doctor's note will allow Arizonans to buy marijuana — or even grow the drug in their home — if a national group seeking voter approval gets its way next year.
The group has drafted a measure they hope to get on the 2010 ballot that would legalize medical marijuana here and set up a system of non-profit "dispensaries."
Supporters say marijuana use has great benefits for people suffering from serious illnesses ranging from cancer to HIV. But critics have long argued legalizing medical use is a step towards full legalization of a drug they see as a "gateway" to more serious addictions.
If the backers get their measure on next year's ballot, it will mark the fourth time since 1996 Arizona voters have a chance to weigh-in on the issue.
"It's the right thing to do," said Andrew Myers, the Arizona campaign manager hired by the national Marijuana Policy Project. "It provides a level of mercy to these people who are suffering and dying."
Organizers have yet to submit draft language to the Secretary of State's Office. But Myers said the initiative would say if someone were to get a "recommendation" from a licensed physician they could not be prosecuted in the state for marijuana possession.
There's two ways patients could get their hands on the pot: Either at the non-profit dispensaries, or if they're 25 miles away from one, they could grow the drug in their own home.
Those using the drug would still be violating federal law — which is why doctors can't give a prescription like other drugs — but on the state level, it would be legal.
"We shouldn't be interfering with the doctor-patient relationship," Myers said.
Arizonans have showed a willingness to legalize the practice for medical purposes before. In 1996, voters approved medical marijuana — only to see the Legislature essentially repeal the law afterward.
Two years later, voters re-ratified the '96 measure. But despite that, doctors have been unwilling to prescribe the drug because of the threat of losing their license.
A 2002 initiative with a provision to reduce the penalty for possession of up to two ounces to a fine was rejected by voters.
This time supporters say they've worked out the legal issues by avoiding the mention of prescriptions. And there are other elements in the measure to win voters over. The state could only issue licenses for 120 dispensaries, none of which could be within 500 feet of a school.
"We're sensitive to the public's concerns about these facilities," said Myers, adding of the 13 states that have legalized medical marijuana, none have legalized it for recreational use.
But some are still skeptical.
State Sen. Ron Gould, R-Lake Havasu, says he doesn't have a problem with people using marijuana for medical purposes.
But he said the dispensaries — similar to a system used in California — are prone to abuse.
"I think that's actually how they abuse it," Gould said — although he says doctors prescribe other drugs that are more addictive and dangerous than pot.
Sen. Linda Lopez, D-Tucson, says even if the move is a step toward legalization, she's not threatened, pointing to some of the greater societal effects she sees from alcohol.
A champion of legalizing assisted suicide, Lopez said the state shouldn't try to be "medical arbiters."
"Marijuana has been very helpful for people to deal with pain," she said.
The group has until July 2010 to gather more than 150,000 signatures.
 
W

Wretched420

Well-Known Member
Op-ed: Ariz. Could Make Medical Marijuana Reality


Ronald Fraser
May 7, 2009
The East Valley Tribune (AZ)

At long last, policymakers in Washington have begun to draw a line between illicit drug use and the legitimate use of drugs as medicine. In March, President Barack Obama's attorney general announced the federal government will no longer prosecute medical marijuana clinics that operate in compliance with state laws. This means lawmakers in Phoenix are now free to decide - without interference from Washington - if marijuana will fill a medical niche in Arizona.
Thirteen states have already removed criminal penalties for the use of medical marijuana and actively regulate how, with a medical doctor's recommendation, marijuana is made available for patients with cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, severe pain, glaucoma, epilepsy and other chronic conditions. But until now, Washington has disregarded these state laws. Since California legalized medical marijuana in 1996, for example, federal agents have raided more than 100 marijuana distribution centers there.
Washington's first step
The first step has been taken with Washington's tacit acknowledgement that closing down state-regulated marijuana clinics is a misuse of taxpayers' money and harmful to Americans coping with serious illnesses. Many thousands of ill people attest that smoking, vaporizing or orally ingesting marijuana relieves pain, nausea and other symptoms far more effectively than Marinol, a pharmaceutically available synthetic version of marijuana.
While the federal government still officially maintains - contrary to solid medical evidence - that marijuana has no medicinal value, at least it has pledged not to raid medical marijuana facilities that are sanctioned by state law.
Arizona's Next Step?
According to the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington-based advocate for legalizing medical marijuana, Arizona currently has a medical marijuana law on the books that allows patients to possess marijuana if it is obtained through a valid prescription. But under the law there is no legal supply of marijuana to fill such prescriptions.
In addition, a 2007 survey by the Marijuana Policy Project asked registered Arizona voters if they supported an initiative to "allow Arizona residents with cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis and other serious illnesses to grow and use marijuana for medical purposes, as long as their physician approves." Sixty-eight percent of the respondents said they supported such an initiative.
Washington's new medical marijuana policy gives Arizona the freedom to exercise its historic role as the primary watchdog for the health and welfare of its citizens. Whether or not Arizona patients will be given greater access to medical marijuana is now up to the state Legislature or the voters.
Other Medicinal Drugs
Marijuana is not the only targeted medical drug. In all 50 states, federal raids can still close down pain clinics and arrest pain management physicians who prescribe large doses of opioids - highly effective, legal painkillers made from opium or synthetics with the properties of opiate narcotics.
Dr. Joel Hochman, director of the National Foundation for the Treatment of Pain in Houston, says the drug-war hysteria is making it too risky for many doctors to accept patients in chronic pain and that, with help from the media, federal raids on so-called "pill mills" paint a false picture that the streets are awash in drugs carelessly handed out by unprincipled doctors.
Instead, he claims, these clinics provide last-resort care to largely uninsured or under-insured blue-collar and other limited-income workers, many with work-related injuries, who can only afford a five-minute visit at high-volume, low-cost, low-profit clinics.
To stay in business these clinics must see 60 to 100 patients each day. With this level of traffic, doctors can make errors and patients can lie about their ailments _ making the clinics easy targets for federal agents. But, since these clinics provide valuable medical services, Hochman says law enforcement polices are misdirected.
His bottom line is: "Wake up America. The dope lords are making billions. The little pain clinics in the strip shopping centers sure aren't."
Instead of getting drugs off the streets, Hochman adds that closing down these pain clinics will "drive patients into the streets, seeking relief from their suffering. Their choices become: score hydrocodone off the street; score heroin off the street; drown their pain with alcohol. No one can tolerate unrelieved pain."
What to do? "End opiophobia and fantasy-driven public policies," Hochman said, "and establish publicly supported clinics so every suffering person can get relief. Confront the fact that law enforcement agencies and prisons are all strung out on the drug prohibition laws and need to be brought back to reality."
Here is a rare opportunity for elected officials in Arizona and in Washington to take a long hard look at how harsh drug laws are undermining medical care in America. For the millions of people desperately coping with chronic ailments, let's not waste it.
 
X

xSnBx SHADOW

Active Member
dude i live in az and was looking around for more info on the medical marijuana bill and found this what do i need to do to help out we are going to do a car was to get money to donate whats else can i do to make az a little more green
 
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