Homeless in Arizona

I'm 100% for legalizing ALL drugs, not just marijuana.

The problem I have with Prop 205 is that it's 99% about making millionaires out of the owners of the existing 85 or so medical marijuana dispensaries by giving them a government monopoly on selling recreational marijuana in addition to the government monopoly they already have on growing and selling medical marijuana.

Sadly Prop 205 leave in place almost ALL of the current felony charges that are associated with marijuana arrests in Arizona.

Under Prop 205 having 2.5 ounces of marijuana is still a felony. Having over 5 grams of concentrated marijuana is a felony. Growing 7 plants for a single person is a felony. Growing 13 plants for a household of 2 or more people is a felony.

Selling any of that marijuana which you purchased for the rip off price of $300 an ounce to a friend is also a felony.

Source

Letter: A little pot smoke never hurt anyone

Ron Kershaw 4:28 p.m. MST October 18, 2016

So Joanna Allhands' big objection to legalizing marijuana is ... air pollution? She shudders at the possibility that a next-door neighbor's pot smoke might waft into her backyard ("Your freedom to toke vs. my freedom not to breathe it").

For years, the kids of one of our immediate neighbors smoked pot in the backyard pretty much whenever their parents were at work, including during school lunch hour and after school. I can assure Ms. Allhands that the drifting marijuana smoke was the least noxious of the carbon emissions by which our backyard has been regularly bombarded over the years.

Other neighbors smoke cigars and cigarettes in their backyards. Houses all over our neighborhood, including many upwind of our yard, begin burning firewood in fireplaces and outdoor fire pits as soon as the temperatures drop below 70 degrees. The almost daily burning continues all winter, especially on no-burn days, despite our numerous complaints to the county.

Another daily, year-round source of neighborhood air pollution is gasoline-powered yard equipment. Other neighbors have elaborate outdoor kitchens for year-round grilling and smoking of meats. If we venture into our backyard while the incessant burning is in progress, we return to the house smelling like smoke-jumpers. Second-hand smoke from leaf blowers, tobacco products, grilling and wood-burning fireplaces is hazardous to health, yet they are perfectly legal.

Most of the arguments in opposition to Prop. 205 are tired shibboleths that have been routinely trotted out by supporters of prohibition since the movie "Reefer Madness." In particular, the shrill warnings of law enforcement officials such as Sheila Polk are simply the enraged howling of bureaucrats whose generous flow of RICO funds is threatened if the property of pot dealers and smokers can no longer be forfeited and sold at auction to pad their budgets.

However, Ms. Allhands' argument is the most absurd yet. A little pot smoke wafting on the breeze isn't going to harm anyone.

— Ron Kershaw, Phoenix