Yvonne Wingett Sanchez

The Republic | azcentral.com

Prop. 205 would regulate and tax marijuana sales in Arizona

About half of Arizona voters support marijuana legalization, a recent poll suggested

They flock to the west Phoenix church after the high from heroin, cocaine or meth has worn off and there's nowhere else to go.

At Victory Outreach West Phoenix, 37th Avenue and Van Buren Street, pastors and churchgoers evangelize drug addicts back to health with Scripture, faith and tough love.

Rescuing addicts is one of the church’s primary ministries, and with a proposal to legalize marijuana on the Nov. 8 ballot, it has taken on a political dimension.

The path toward harder drugs almost always begins with marijuana, said Assistant Pastor Jose Gonzalez. That's why he is urging the Victory Outreach congregation to vote against Proposition 205.

The $4 million campaign to keep recreational marijuana illegal has been funded by businesses and industry groups. But they are getting help from an influential, if informal, coalition of evangelicals, Catholics and Mormons, who are motivating their flocks to vote against the controversial measure.

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While some faith leaders in the state support legalizing marijuana, these faiths are telling their members that Prop. 205 would contribute to the decline of generations of children, jeopardize public safety and sow the seeds of harder drug use.

“It’s not that it’s immoral," said Gonzalez, 57, of marijuana. “It’s that it will lead you to things that will lead you to immoral things, and that’s what we’ve seen.

”We have helped people who were drug addicts, and they have told us, ‘We just started with marijuana, but later on our body wanted something else.’ The evangelical churches work hard with the youth and we care for the whole community and we believe, if this passes, it will affect the future of our state and nation."

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Beyond conversations with worshippers and clergy, Victory Outreach West Phoenix is hosting a community gathering at 10 a.m. on Nov. 5 to make their case against marijuana legalization to the community. The Catholic and Mormon churches are promoting the event, Gonzalez said. "This is something we really don’t want."

Prop. 205 asks Arizona voters to legalize cannabis for recreational use and establish licensed outlets where sales of the drug would be taxed, similar to the system in Colorado. Marijuana is illegal under federal law, but the Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act would allow people 21 and older in Arizona to possess up to 1 ounce of marijuana and grow it in their homes.

Several faiths opposed

The religious opposition to legal marijuana is coming from several faiths and one major Christian non-profit group, the Center for Arizona Policy. From evangelical churches on the west side to Mormon pulpits in the East Valley and Catholic congregations in between, faith leaders are counseling their congregations to vote against Prop. 205 .

By legalizing marijuana, the clergy warn, Arizona would send the message that drug use is socially and morally acceptable. It could lead to increased drug use, put people on the path to harder drugs, expose children to pot-infused edibles and increase the number of drugged drivers, they say.

During Sunday worship services earlier this month, Arizona's 419,000 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were read a letter from the faith's First Presidency. The Oct. 12 letter was intended to address, in a nonpartisan way, proposals to legalize marijuana in Arizona, California, Nevada and other states — an issue it believes has significant community or moral consequences.

"Drug abuse in the United States is at epidemic proportions, and the dangers of marijuana to public health and safety are well documented," the letter stated. "Recent studies have shed light particularly on the risks that marijuana use poses to brain development in youth. The accessibility of recreational marijuana in the home is also a danger to children.

"We urge Church members to let their voices be heard in opposition to the legalization of recreational marijuana use."

Tom Freestone, a Mormon who lives in the East Valley, said the letter was a reminder for church members to study the issues and pray before casting their vote. Recreational marijuana, he said, could lead to "moral decay."

"Anything that has an addictive persuasion can lead to a bad path ... because it clouds your judgment," said Freestone, a former county supervisor and state senator. "All the churches see the dangers of it, and there comes a time that you have to speak up instead of remain silent. There's a lot at stake."

Poll: Arizona voters still favor legalizing marijuana

Arizona's Catholic bishops also voiced grave concerns about Prop. 205.

Months ago, the Arizona Catholic Conference — representing four bishops — issued a rare joint statement to the state's estimated 1 million Catholics. Published in the secretary of state's publicity pamphlet, the statement says marijuana is "harmful to children and families" and sends the message to kids that "drug use is socially and morally acceptable." It went on to note that marijuana can harm brain function and lead to an increase in use among students, as well as related traffic accidents.

"Substance abuse is a real issue that the bishops and many religious people are very familiar with, and did not feel this sent a positive message, especially to the youth," said Ron Johnson, executive director of the Arizona Catholic Conference. "If we were to legalize in Arizona, for recreational use ... it would be saying it is a good thing, when the bishops don't believe that it is. We believe it is harmful."

The conference also voiced its opposition through Catholic media channels, including in a front-page story in The Catholic Sun, which is distributed to 120,000 households. Johnson also interviewed Gov. Doug Ducey, who is Catholic, on Immaculate Heart Radio, about his opposition to legal marijuana.

Not all churches are opposed

Six Arizona clergy have endorsed Prop. 205, writing in an open letter that they "have the responsibility and the credibility" to address the state's "failed" marijuana laws.

"One does not have to use marijuana — or even approve of marijuana — to see that our current laws are not working, nor are they, in our view, just," the letter said. "In Arizona, taxpayers spend millions of dollars annually to arrest, prosecute, cite and process thousands of people — disproportionately Latinos and African-Americans — for possessing small amounts of marijuana ... These arrests, even when they do not lead to incarceration, ruin lives."

"... How we punish people and what we punish them for are central moral questions. If a punishment policy fails to meet its objectives and causes harm to humans, we have a moral obligation to support change."

The Rev. Jim Wiltbank of St. Francis in the Foothills United Methodist Church in Tucson signed the letter because, in his view, marijuana prohibition has failed.

While he is not sharing his pro-Prop. 205 message from the pulpit, he is sharing it one on one with members.

"I'm not trying to say marijuana doesn't have bad implications," he said. "I'm trying to say, by keeping it illegal, are we helping our society more or are we hurting our society more? Right now, many of the crimes that we're prosecuting ... are for relatively minor marijuana charges. In those jails, kids are sitting next to more hardened criminals, and so they are learning, I believe harder crimes."

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'Stupidest thing that we could do as a state'

Amy Erica Smith, assistant professor of political science at Iowa State University, said the mobilization of Christians of varying persuasions against legalizing marijuana has been relatively muted in recent years, in part because of changing attitudes, especially among young people.

"Christianity tends to involve lots of rules, and suggestions, and counsel about how people should behave with each other in a broader society," Smith said. "Many religious leaders will interpret Christianity as requiring that they get involved or take a stance on social issues when they perceive them to be really, really important."

One recent night, hundreds of voters gathered at a Scottsdale worship hall to hear about the potential dangers of legal marijuana.

The event was sponsored by the Center for Arizona Policy.

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Ducey, who is fundraising for the No on Prop. 205 campaign, was on stage warning voters that Prop. 205 may be the most consequential vote they cast this election. Legalizing marijuana “is the absolute stupidest thing that we could do as a state,” Ducey said.

“We’re here to leave our state better than we found it for our children," he added. "As your governor, there’s not one problem I face or not one problem we have as a state that will be made better by the legalization of recreational marijuana. Quite the opposite: They will be made worse. No state ever became stronger by being stoned.”

Catherine Shapiro, 38, a north Phoenix resident and mother of four children, was emotional as she left the event following a presentation by Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery. He had told the crowd that the potential dangers of Prop. 205 include children accidentally eating pot-infused candies, as they have in Colorado.

Shapiro, who is Mormon, said later that the letter from her church's leaders confirmed her initial feelings about the measure.

"I might move" if Prop. 205 passes, she said. "I can't even imagine my kids getting exposed to the effects of what could happen if marijuana is legalized."

Clergy Letter to Arizona Voters We are clergy in Arizona united in our support of Proposition 205. This measure will regulate, tax, and control marijuana like alcohol. It will limit legal use to adults 21 years of age or older and generate tens of millions of dollars for public schools and education programs annually. As clergy, we have the responsibility and the credibility to talk about what policies serve our community best. One does not have to use marijuana — or even approve of marijuana — to see that our current laws are not working, nor are they, in our view, just. In Arizona, taxpayers spend millions of dollars annually to arrest, prosecute, cite and process thousands of people — disproportionately Latinos and African-Americans — for possessing small amounts of marijuana. Over 150,000 adults have been arrested for marijuana possession in Arizona since 2005. These arrests, even when they do not lead to incarceration, ruin lives. For decades, marijuana prohibition has been inefficient, wasteful, and counterproductive. By all measures, Arizona’s marijuana laws have failed. In addition to the millions of dollars spent on enforcement, our police waste precious time enforcing these policies. This is time that could be directed toward preventing violent crimes. Despite all these efforts, about three-quarters of teenagers in national surveys consistently report that marijuana is “fairly or very easy to get.” As we seek to teach compassion and love, it seems inconsistent to support, in cases of private personal adult marijuana possession, the use of police, guns, and courts. The faith community, parents, peers, counselors, and educators are the appropriate means to address this kind of personal behavior. We should work to make our communities safer. Illegal marijuana sales are the foundation for criminal markets that operate in every community in our state. When people, both old and young, seek to purchase marijuana in the underground market, they are often exposed to — and are encouraged to purchase — far more dangerous substances. We need to break the link between marijuana and more dangerous drugs. And we can do so by shifting sales of marijuana out of the criminal market and into regulated businesses that check ID’s for age and generate tax revenue for needed services. How we punish people and what we punish them for are central moral questions. If a punishment policy fails to meet its objectives and causes harm to humans, we have a moral obligation to support change. Our laws punishing marijuana use continue to cause significant harm to individuals, families, and society. In response to that harm, we support replacing marijuana prohibition with a system of strict regulation and sensible safeguards. We urge all voters in Arizona to support Proposition 205. Rev. Sherman Fort

Senior Pastor, Canaan Missionary Baptist Church

Mesa, AZ Rev. Terry Sims

Minister, Unitarian Universalist Church of Sunrise

Sunrise, AZ Rev. Bart Smith

Pastor, St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church

Tucson, AZ Rev. Warren Stewart, Jr.

Lead Pastor, Church of the Remnant

Phoenix, AZ Rabbi Dr. Schmuly Yanklowitz

President and Dean, Valley Beit Midrash

Phoenix, AZ Rev. Jim Wiltbank

Pastor, St. Francis in the Foothills United Methodist Church

Tucson, AZ Rev. Alexander E. Sharp

Executive Director

Clergy for a New Drug Policy

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