Monday, April 20, 2015
The Marijuana Policy Project has mended ties with activists and dispensary representatives, so the group officially filed its weed ballot measure with the Secretary of State's Office Friday to begin the signature gathering campaign. This comes less than one month after a plan B group—Arizonans for Responsible Legalization—headed by MPP of Arizona's former campaign chairwoman Gina Berman came out with news that it'd be putting forward its own initiative, because they were not happy with the dispensaries' end of the stick.
Over the last few days, members of ARL traveled to D.C. and met with MPP leaders to discuss a middle ground for regulatory issues and other disagreements with the industry's proposed business structure and licensing. And, to make sure activists stayed on board, MPP put home cultivation rights back on the measure.
"Not everybody is happy with the language, I am not in love with all of the components, but we have the best compromise we are going to get," says Mikel Weisser, political director of Safer Arizona, the group that fought hard for homegrown weed language to make the initiative.
Weisser was the only non-MPP member who participated in the announcement event in Phoenix Friday afternoon.
Tags: marijuana policy project , arizona , weed , safer arizona , mikel weisser