Yvonne Wingett Sanchez

The Republic | azcentral.com

The state director of the Department of Economic Security forwarded an email railing about marijuana legalization to thousands of the department's employees.

On Sunday night, Tim Jeffries sent the email — which had the subject line "Fwd: Alcohol "safer" than marijuana???????" — adding, "You be the judge."

The balance of the email was written by Seth Leibsohn, a radio show host and member of Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy, which is spearheading the campaign against Proposition 205.

Prop. 205 would legalize marijuana for recreational use for adults 21 and older, and allow them to grow, use and carry the drug. Jeffries has donated $500 to the anti-legalization effort, campaign-finance records show.

In his email, Leibsohn wrote: "Seeing the increased trope of the MPP (Marijuana Policy Project) and various Campaigns promoting the safety of marijuana compared to alcohol, and the cleverness with which they deploy it, I did my best to blow that up here, as comprehensively as possible. I couldn’t think of a normal magazine or outlet for such a piece, so I just published it myself. If you like, feel free to use or distribute at will. Thank you for all your work, thoughts, and help."

Leibsohn included a link to an article he wrote on a conservative website, criticizing the pro-Prop. 205 argument that marijuana is safer than alcohol. He asserts the pro-205 campaign is deceptive in its comparisons.

Tasya Peterson, director of communications at DES, wrote in an email to The Arizona Republic that Jeffries' email was "sent purely for informational purposes."

"Senior leadership regularly circulates articles and news stories regarding current events," she wrote.

MONTINI: Why can DES chief push personal anti-marijuana agenda using state email?

Jeffries' email use has come under scrutiny before: Earlier this year, the state's attorney general concluded emails Jeffries sent to state employees about his religious pilgrimage to France were "private speech," and were allowed by law.

State employees are not to use public resources "for the purposes of influencing the outcomes of elections," according to an opinion by Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich. Ryan Anderson, a spokesman for the attorney general, wrote in an email the agency doesn't "police individual agency directors' emails or weigh in absent a specific complaint.

"That being said, this appears to be a matter that could be addressed internally between Director Jeffries and his boss," Anderson wrote.

Jeffries' boss is Gov. Doug Ducey. In an emailed statement, Ducey's spokesman Daniel Scarpinato said the DES director was "simply sharing an article."

He added: "Our office has made it clear that electioneering using state resources is completely unacceptable. Based on our review, we do not believe this email meets that description."

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