Pubdate: Fri, 17 Apr 2015
Source: Arizona Republic (Phoenix, AZ)
Copyright: 2015 The Arizona Republic
Website: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/24
Author: Yvonne Wingett Sanchez

BALLOT MEASURE WILL ASK ARIZONA VOTERS TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA

WHERE IS MARIJUANA LEGAL?

Although many states have laws legalizing marijuana usage, it is still
illegal under federal law; but the Justice Department said it will not
challenge states' marijuana laws as long as they do not run counter to 
certain federal enforcement priorities, such as selling pot to minors.

A planned 2016 ballot initiative would ask Arizona voters to legalize
marijuana for recreational use and establish a network of licensed
cannabis shops where sales of the drug would be taxed, in part, to
fund education.

Supporters are expected to file language of the Regulation and
Taxation of Marijuana Act with the secretary of State on Friday. The
Arizona Republic obtained a copy of the proposed initiative.

Under the initiative, adults 21 and older could possess up to 1 ounce
of marijuana and grow up to six plants in their homes without
obtaining licenses, as long as the plants are in a secure area.

It would also create a distribution system similar to Colorado's,
where licensed businesses produce and sell marijuana.

The initiative also creates a Department of Marijuana Licenses and
Control to regulate the "cultivation, manufacturing, testing,
transportation, and sale of marijuana" and gives local governments the
authority to regulate and ban marijuana stores. It also establishes a
15 percent tax on retail sales to be allocated to education, including
full-day kindergarten and public health.

RELATED: Could Arizona see a glut of medical marijuana?

"In the interest of the public health and public safety, to protect
and maintain individual rights and the people's freedom and to better
focus state and local law enforcement resources on crimes involving
violence and personal property, the people of the State of Arizona
find and declare that the use of marijuana should be legal for persons
who are at least twenty-one years of age," the initiative says.

Local supporters, backed by the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana
Policy Project, for years have planned to expand the state's
medical-marijuana program, which voters approved in 2010. They have
eyed the 2016 election cycle, when a presidential race is expected to
draw to the polls young voters who may be more likely to support
marijuana legalization.

"People are coming to realize that marijuana is not as harmful as
they've been led to believe ... and it makes little sense to punish
adults who choose to use it responsibly," Mason Tvert, spokesman for
the Marijuana Policy Project, told The Republic on Thursday.

Summary of the proposed initiative

The Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act: (1) allows adults
twenty-one years of age and older to possess and to privately consume
and grow limited amounts of marijuana; (2) creates a system in which
licensed businesses can produce and sell marijuana; (3) establishes a
Department of Marijuana Licenses and Control to regulate the
cultivation, manufacturing, testing, transportation, and sale of
marijuana; (4) provides local governments with the authority to regulate
and prohibit marijuana businesses; and (5) establishes a 15% tax on
retail marijuana sales, from which the revenue will be allocated to
public health and education.

Source: Marijuana Policy Project

"Right now, there are millions upon millions (of dollars) in marijuana
sales that are taking place in Arizona in the underground market, and
this is an opportunity to start controlling those sales and taxing them
and raising revenue that will benefit communities in Arizona," Tvert said.

Marijuana remains illegal under the federal Controlled Substances Act,
but in 2013 the U.S. Department of Justice said it would not interfere
with laws regulating recreational use of marijuana.

The initiative almost certainly will face stiff opposition from
law-enforcement officials, faith-based organizations and education
groups that could highlight the harmful effects of marijuana on
children and society. Those opponents have noted the state's
medical-marijuana program only narrowly passed, and point to problems
Colorado has encountered with its recreational-marijuana program.

For example, some hospital officials there have said they are treating
an increased number of people who got sick from eating marijuana-laced
foods. Law-enforcement officials in neighboring states have complained
that motorists coming from Colorado are driving through their towns
while high.

Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk, a critic of marijuana
legalization, has joined forces with anti-drug advocates to oppose
pro-marijuana initiatives and to "inform the public about the science
of today's marijuana." Polk has pointed to studies that suggest
marijuana can lead to lower intelligence among users and that regular
use is bad for teen brains.

On its website, Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy says it hopes to
attract financial support to stand up against "those who wish to
legalize another dangerous substance without regard to the lifelong
effects on our children."

Under the 2016 Arizona initiative language, driving while impaired by
marijuana would remain illegal, as would consuming marijuana in public
and selling or giving the drug to anyone under 21.

Taxation of the program would fund the state's cost of implementing
and enforcing the initiative. Forty percent of the taxes on marijuana
would be directed to the Department of Education for construction,
maintenance and operation costs, including compensation of K-12
teachers. Another 40 percent would be set aside for full-day
kindergarten programs. And 20 percent would go to the Department of
Health Services for unspecified uses.

Revenue from the taxes could not flow into the state's general fund,
which would allow it to be spent for other purposes.

The state health department, which oversees the medical-marijuana
program, would relinquish that role to the new Department of Marijuana
Licenses and Control. The governor would appoint the director of that
department. And a seven-member marijuana commission would set program
rules and approve and deny licenses.

The initiative limits the number of marijuana shops to about 150 until
2021 and then the number could increase if the department determines
there's a need. Existing medical marijuana dispensaries in good
standing would be granted licenses to sell, manufacture and distribute
marijuana for retail use.

Initiative supporters must collect 150,642 to qualify for the 2016
ballot.

Legalization efforts were in jeopardy of splintering weeks ago, when a
group broke ranks with MPP's proposal and created a competing
legalization effort. The move highlighted factions within Arizona's
marijuana industry and the infighting threatened to derail the 2016
effort.

RELATED:Marijuana group executive says he will target rival
group

In recent days, the groups came together to "conceptually" agree on
language, said Gina Berman, a medical director at a local
medical-marijuana dispensary who recently left MPP's legalization
effort to start another. She said Thursday that she is now
"conceptually on the same page" with MPP.

Ryan Hurley, a marijuana-industry attorney and chairman of the group's
campaign committee, described the effort as "collaborative" among MPP,
local dispensaries and local activists.

Summary of the proposed initiative

The Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act: (1) allows adults
twenty-one years of age and older to possess and to privately consume
and grow limited amounts of marijuana; (2) creates a system in which
licensed businesses can produce and sell marijuana; (3) establishes a
Department of Marijuana Licenses and Control to regulate the
cultivation, manufacturing, testing, transportation, and sale of
marijuana; (4) provides local governments with the authority to regulate
and prohibit marijuana businesses; and (5) establishes a 15% tax on
retail marijuana sales, from which the revenue will be allocated to
public health and education.
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MAP posted-by: Matt