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Arizona Becomes 15th Medical Marijuana State (Press Release)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NOVEMBER 14, 2010
Arizona Becomes 15th Medical Marijuana State
Provisional Ballots Secure Victory for Measure That Will Allow About 120 Medical Marijuana Clinics in Arizona
CONTACT: Mike Meno, MPP director of communications: 202-905-2030, 443-927-6400 or [email protected]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – After a tally of late provisional ballots, the Associated Press is reporting that Arizona voters have approved Proposition 203, a state ballot measure that will allow patients suffering from cancer, AIDS, and other life-threatening illnesses to use medical marijuana with a recommendation from their doctor. Arizona now joins the list of 14 other states, along with the District of Columbia, that have passed medical marijuana laws since 1996.
“Voters in Arizona have sided with science and compassion while dealing yet another blow to our nation’s cruel and irrational prohibition on marijuana,” said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, which provided significant funding and support to the Arizona Medical Marijuana Policy Project, the local group that ran the Proposition 203 campaign. “Arizona’s law now reflects the mainstream public opinion that seriously ill people should not be treated like criminals if marijuana can provide them relief, and that doctors should be able to recommend marijuana to patients if they believe it can help alleviate their suffering.”
Seventy percent of Americans favor making marijuana legally available for doctors to recommend in order to reduce pain and suffering, according to a recent Gallup poll.
“Sadly, patients in 35 states still have no legal protection if marijuana is the medicine that works best for them,” Kampia said. “We will continue working in the years ahead to ensure that others are awarded the respect and compassionate care that seriously ill patients in Arizona will now enjoy, thanks to this law.”
Proposition 203 allows for the establishment of about 120 tightly run, state-regulated clinics that will dispense marijuana to qualified patients in Arizona. Patients who live more than 25 miles from a clinic will be allowed to grow their own medicine. The other jurisdictions with medical marijuana laws are Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Oregon, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington state, and the District of Columbia.
With more than 124,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. For more information, please visit www.mpp.org.
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MPP Insider Newsletter Volume 1, Issue 12
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Just days after the election, as votes continue to be counted in some very close races and initiatives, MPP examines some of the results pertinent to ending marijuana prohibition in the US. From some disappointing losses to a couple of positive gubernatorial wins, Mike Meno takes a look at the good, the bad, and the undecided. 
In what has become the most watched initiative for medical marijuana in quite some time, Arizona's Prop 203 still has ballots being counted in an extremely close election. With thousands of ballots still left to be counted at the time of this e-mail, Prop 203 is within 2,000 votes of winning. 
Remember Joe Casias? He's the Wal-Mart employee in Michigan who was fired after failing a routine drug test, even though he was a registered, legal medical marijuana patient at the time. Well, thanks in part to MPP's efforts, Joe begins his battle in court today with the help of the ACLU in what could be a precedent-setting case. 
Despite the disappointing failure of Prop 19, the initiative to tax and control marijuana in California, a new poll shows that the people of that state still feel strongly that marijuana should be made legal. This is encouraging news as MPP looks ahead to 2012 and considers the best opportunities to end marijuana prohibition. 
New Mexico, a medical marijuana state since 2007, recently approved six new dispensaries in the state. This decision — among several other proposed changed that the state's health department is still considering — is great news for the more than 2,800 registered patients in New Mexico. 
In January 2000, 18-year-old Marisa Garcia received a ticket for marijuana possession that nearly cost her a college education.Blog
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