Prop 203: Details on Push to Legalize Medical Marijuana

PHOENIX - Whether to legalize medical marijuana will be on the ballot this November, and Arizona voters will decide whether to allow doctors to prescribe it to some patients.

And the state hopes to regulate the drug if the measure passes.

"We need to have rules in place from the outset," says Andrew Myers, campaign manager for the Arizona Medical Marijuana Policy Project.

Myers says California's problem is that they failed to limit the number of marijuana dispensaries and the patients who could get the plants.

"This isn't for everybody, this is for a select limited group of patients that have a certain class of illnesses that is effectively treated by marijuana, and we want to make sure they have access to the medication that they need without being afraid of being arrested," says Myers.

Proposition 203 lists patients with cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C, ALS, Crohn's disease and Alzheimer's as prime candidates for medical marijuana -- but leaves the door open for any number of symptoms from nausea to severe pain, which has opponents worried.

"It's really not about medical marijuana it's about decriminalization, and tying up the hands of the police, the prosecutors, and the courts," says Doug Hebert, who's mounting a campaign against Proposition 203.

His primary concerns are access to kids and teens, lax regulation, and the fact that those who don't live within 25 miles of a dispensary can grow their own.

"We're going to have actually be plagued with indoor groves around the state of Arizona, because most of Arizona is rural area."

Legislators have not addressed taxing the sale of marijuana, and it might not be considered since it would be considered medication.