As a physician, I support Proposition 203 because it improves the war on drugs and it compassionately allows the medical use of marijuiana. The war on drugs is a failure for many reasons, not the least of which is the legal use of tobacco and alcohol, the two most deady and addicting drugs on Earth. These two drugs kill more than 600,000 Americans every year, while also harming and addicting millions more. In 1999, the Institute of Medicine reported that most drug users begin with alcohol and tobacco as minors, before marijuana, and that alcohol and nicotine are more commonly the gateways to illicit drug use.

Proposition 203 rightfully puts the war on drugs on education, prevention, and treatment while also increasing the penalties for people who commit violent crimes under the influence of illegal drugs. Medical treatment of drug abuse and addiction is far more succesful and cost effective than incarceration.

In 2001, the Arizona Supreme Court reported that about two thirds of more than 5,000 nonviolent drug offenders referred to teratment successfully completed the program and that the annual cost savings to the state exceeded $5 million dollars. In contrast, studies of repeat offenders show recidivism rates of more than two-thirds returning to jail.

Punishment simply does not work in drug abuse and addiction. Furthermore, imprisonment of nonviolent drug offenders often has unintended consequences of harming affected families and children for many years to come.

Proposition 203 reinforces and clarifies Arizona's medical marijuana laws, providing safeguards to protect patients, physicians, caregivers, and the community. Marijuana is acquired and distributed thrugh the state Department of Public Safety and the federal government's farm at the University of Mississippi.

The Department of Health Services will establish and maintain a program for the issuance of registry identification cards to Arizona residents who meet all the requirements of the law. The DHS is given flexibility to add additional illnesses or condtitions that qualify as debilitating medical conditions in the future.

Patient doses are limited to 2 ounces per month, which is 33 percent less than the 300 marijuana cigarettes (approximately 3 ounces) that the federal government mails to its six patients each month.

Proposition 203 does not requir a physician to recommend or prescribe marijuana to a qualifying patient.

Rather, a physician need only provide the patient with a letter or copy of a progress note in the medical record that notes the patient's qualifying condition, a discussion of risks versus benefits, and that medical use of marijuana might benefit the patient.

Unbiased medical research during the past 20 years has repeatedly shown marijuana to be safe and effective in a variety of serious medical conditions including cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma, seizures, spasticity, pain, nausea, and weight loss. In 1988, the Drug Enforcement Administration concluded a two-year comprehensive study of marijuana with the recommendation that it be immediately rescheduled for medical use because of medical utility, safety, and effectiveness. In fact, the DEA's executive law judge, Francis Young, said that scientific evidence showed marijuana in its natural form to be "one of the safest substances known to man." The New England Journal of Medicine estimated the lethal dose of marijuana to 50 percent of the population to be 1,500 pounds inhaled or ingested in 15 minutes. Mrijuana has never caused a death by overdose and has not been scientifically linked to any increase in cancer risk.

The Journal has repeatedly called for the rescheduling of marijuana for medical use. In 1998, its editor in chief, Dr. Jerome Kassirer, said that a federal policy prohibiting physicians from prescribing marijuana to suffering patients who might benefit is "misguided, heavy-handed, and inhumane."

The following year, the IOM report on marijuana concluded that marijuana is affective in relieving patient symptoms and is minimally addictive compared to other drugs doctors prescribe. Opponents of Proposition 203 often question what message is being sent to our children. I believe we should tell children the truth. Drugs are not inherently evil or dangerous; it's how they are used that matters.

Alcohol and tobacco are undoubtedly the very worst drugs. Parents, teachers, health-care professionals, and law envorcement must redouble their efforts to stop underage use of alcohol and tobacco if the goal is to significantly reduce illicit drug abuse and addiction. Proposition 203 tells children that we truly care about the proper and compassionate use of drugs in the sick and dying, while refocusing our resources on provben educational and medical treatment mthods in the war on drugs.