Opponents of a ballot initiative that seeks to ask voters to legalize recreational marijuana for adults filed a lawsuit on July 11 to keep the measure off the November ballot, citing that the would-be law misleads voters in its petition summaries concerning how many of Arizona’s laws it would affect.
The lawsuit mainly takes issue with a number of Arizona laws that would be affected with its passage, stating “the Initiative’s operative provisions embrace far too many subjects than allowed for a single ballot initiative.”
The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol initiative, if passed, would allow people over the age of 21 to use and possess marijuana bought from dispensaries, while maintaining the illegality of use by minors and driving under the effects of marijuana.
According to Barrett Marson, communications director for the campaign, there is no “limit to changing the law for an initiative.”
The campaign’s chair, JP Holyoak, said that opponents of the initiative “have demonstrated that they are willing to do and say just about anything to maintain the failed policy of marijuana prohibition. This lawsuit is simply a desperate attempt to deprive Arizona voters of the right to vote on this ballot question.”
Two of the major opponents of the initiative are Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery and Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk, both of whom have been critical of recreational legalization in the past.
Montgomery spoke out about marijuana legalization during a debate on the matter in March 2015, defending his anti-legalization perspective from a religious standpoint.
Polk is the vice chair of Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy, which has maintained an anti-legalization stance during the discussion of legalization in Arizona began.
“I am opposed to the legalization of recreational marijuana generally and very much opposed to this particular law,” she said. “If you look at what’s happening in Colorado…what you see is a whole host of negative consequences.”
Polk referred to issues in Colorado of public health, teen use and increased law enforcement needs referring to a study by the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.
The study demonstrates an increase in ER visits among users and an above-average rate of use amongst teenagers when compared to other states, though several reports find that teen use has either stagnated or decreased.
But Holyoke said Polk was overstating the dangers of marijuana use, especially compared to the legal penalties users face under the current laws.
“Our opponents are going to great lengths to continue punishing adults for using a substance that is less harmful than alcohol,” Holyoak said.
When it comes to the measure to legalize in Arizona, she says the initiative’s 20 pages is longer than other states’ initiatives, which leads to complications in explaining to voters what the law would actually do.
“There’s no cap on the amount of pages that an initiative can be,” Marson said.
The challenge arises in outlining the law for the petition summary on the forms signed by eligible voters to get the initiative on the ballot.
“There are certain rules to make sure that the initiative process has integrity,” Polk said. “There are certain rules that have to be followed that are essential to making sure voters understand what it is they’re voting on.”
The law allows 100 words for the summary of the initiative.
“Obviously not every bullet point is going to be on there,” Marson said. “If they have an issue with that, then they should change state law.”
Another of the plaintiffs is the Arizona Chamber of Commerce. According to the lawsuit, “the business community is greatly concerned about the…consequences of the initiative…due to the many direct and indirect negative impacts in the workplace.”
The lawsuit claims that the ballot initiative doesn’t specify how marijuana would be handled in the workplace, as it simply allows employers to restrict marijuana use. Colorado’s law specifically allows businesses to ban marijuana use among their employees.
The initiative would also give preferential treatment to dispensaries that are already established, making it difficult for new businesses to break into the market.
Other issues cited in the lawsuit include the measure’s effect on drug testing for the Cash Assistance Program, landlords’ ability to evict tenants for marijuana use, child custody laws, DUID laws and local governments’ authority over marijuana commerce, all of which are addressed in the initiative but not to an extent satisfactory of the plaintiffs.
The lawsuit also claims the initiative misleads voters in its omission addressing use by members of the military, inconsistency in how much marijuana someone could possess at once and that it doesn’t actually regulate marijuana like alcohol, due to the inherent differences of the two substances.
The initiative states that users may possess one ounce or less of marijuana and can keep six plants in their home in addition to the marijuana they yield. Typical marijuana plants yield more than one ounce each.
Finally, the lawsuit says the initiative fails to fund itself as required under Arizona law by using money from the Medical Marijuana Fund under the DHS.
An initial hearing to show cause was set for July 19.
“It’s frivolous,” Marson said. “The whole lawsuit is frivolous.”
This article appears in Jul 21-27, 2016.
Wow. – The prohibitionists are addicted to criminalizing good citizens who prefer near harmless marijuana over addictive, very harmful alcohol. — Such ugly bigotry.
Science and widespread experience have shown marijuana has no significant harms. — Smart employers of the future will prefer their employees consume near harmless marijuana, rather than addictive, very harmful, violence inducing, traffic carnage fueling, hangover-producing alcohol.
End the fraudulent, federal, marijuana prohibition with two clicks!
http://pac.petitions.moveon.org/sign/marij…
The Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area reports cited by Ms Polk are deceptive, dishonest and acknowledge no positive effects from legalization. In reality, the benefits of a legal, regulated market are obvious, abundant and have been an unqualified success. Arizona can join in that success or remain in denial by continuing to favor an uncontrollable black market and making criminals of adults who prefer a safer alternative to alcohol or tobacco and are causing no harm to themselves or others.
An estimated $150,000,000,000 (BILLION) PER YEAR from recreational cannabis sales in America goes directly into the hands of crime cartels and gangs. Legalization will take this fortune away from drug lords and place it into the hands of legitimate responsible business. This plus another $10,000,000,000 (BILLION) is wasted on needless cannabis law enforcement and another $30,000,000,000 (BILLION) lost in potential tax revenue. BILLIONs down the toilet every year due to ridiculous cannabis prohibition laws that make no sense and destroy people’s lives daily.
US CDC Figures on numbers of deaths per year in the USA:
* Prescription Drugs: 237,485 + 5,000 traffic fatalities
* Tobacco: 390,323
* Alcohol: 88,013 + 16,000 traffic fatalities
* Cocaine: 4,906
* Heroin: 3,365
* Aspirin: 466
* Acetaminophen (Tylenol): 179
* Marijuana: 0, no fatal toxic overdoses and almost no traffic problems
So, which is safer? Legalize cannabis NOW!!!
Cannabis is a superfood that can produce a euphoric feeling if the consumer desires. It is completely safe and not addictive. Alcohol is very addictive and dangerous.
The system used for alcohol is stupid and causes unnecessary costs and only allows a few people to realize the potential revenue generation available from the market.
Cannabis ought to be legalized, for sure. However, the distribution system ought not emulate alcohol and ought not restrict individuals from choosing to grow their own, and ought not restrict the small businessperson or ma and pa shop from participating in commerce. In addition, any model is not acceptable if the police will continue to have incentive to be concerned about cannabis activity- and have the ability to investigate, raid, arrest and take items of value from citizens due to cannabis involvement.
In 1937, the Nazi Forces in America criminalized marijuana as part of the “Final Solution” policy to justify the unconstitutional arrest and incarceration of African-Americans and Hispanics.
In 2016, WE THE PEOPLE will vote to legalize Marijuana and STOP the Nazi-era fascism and oppression imposed by a few Republican alcoholics.
God bless America, God bless Liberty, Vote for FREEDOM 2016..!
Ben James Yokel; I must say that is quite a pant load.
please give link to verify your statements
Truth is this will promote the illegal market. This is a peer reviewed study on Alcohol and Marijuana when both became managed markets. Both have exploded in the black market dues to the cost of regulatory fees attached. Here is the link done over 80 years of study. This is done by Washington State Univ.
https://aclu-wa.org/library_files/MarijuanaProhibition.pdf
Also a study done by the Colorado department of revenue. In this study they looked at the matrix of the people that used marijuana. in this study. With so many different parts of the plant now being processed the stems,sugar leaves, broad leaves, used to make extracts for oils and edibles. Which results in under reporting of flower and concentrates. The study narrowed the market down to 650,000 of the users that consumed almost 85% of all the available Marijuana available. Here is the study for those that can extrapolate talk to you friends kids relatives. https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/sites/default/files/Market%20Size%20and%20Demand%20Study,%20July%209,%202014%5B1%5D.pdf
I dont know about you people I can still get a quarter pound for $200.00. Soon Mexico will stop most all bulk productions they will favor condensing their product down to oils and concentrates. We can thank the marketeers for this revelation and market expansion.
Thank You, Arizona Dispensary Association aka; ADA. This is just another vehicle that the medical needs person has to pay for Make a market to exploit underreporting and expansion. Slap another layer of prohibition. Get all the rejects that could not make it in the Colorado/California market’s to come here. These charlatans want to get their foot in the door, then slam it closed on the long time citizens here. Vote for real change not these snake oil charlatans check out. SAFER AZ the only real freedom from persecution.
It make one wonder does it not. With the years of societal rejection and persecution if caught you had a felony and punished for life. Sort of a chattel that had to be paid from your labor daily to those allowed to profit in the market.>>> This was back up by the SCOTUS with the DRED SCOTT decision. So we went to war over one state free one state slave. To appease the masses after the bloodiest war in american history we allowed states to regulate who could vote plant grow crops sell those crops and what part of the economy they were allowed to use. This was called the Russell Crowe.
If anybody can explain how this CRLMA does not follow the same fallacious format dynamic that has been tried in the past, please help me understand. We now have a prohibition this will in no way repeal it it still leaves 13-3405 on the books. If Paradise Valley passes and ordinance. Your ex invites over to discuss old times gets you on the balcony says lights up then calls the cops. WHALA!!! Montgomery has another felony conviction. If parental rights hang in the balance you just lost that because of Marijuana market protections.
lets ask ourselves one thing all of this monies that is to come from marijuana sales. Where does the money come out of the social fabric of the population ? Will this monies be dispersed back into the economy by market forces, or by gifts given back to the people with heavy administrative costs. This proposed tax windfall is a cancer that will kill the host over time. This takes the very life blood of a free peoples.