Here’s the thing about citizens initiatives: anyone can file them—it’s free—but to see one successfully land on the ballot, you need a shitload of money. That’s why the Marijuana Policy Project’s Barrett Marson is quite confident the group’s Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol is going to prevail in 2016.
The group has already accumulated more than $300,000 and roughly 25,000 signatures in a little more than a month, and Marson expects the contributions and support to keep on flowing.
With four other marijuana-related measures collecting signatures, Marson has a question, “Do they have the money behind them?”
Robert Clark, co-chairman of Safer Arizona, which joined forces with the group Arizona for Mindful Regulation (they filed their initiative last week), says they have close to 300 volunteers and recently began their fundraising efforts. “We are not worried about MPP’s funding. We will be collecting signatures and educating the public about all initiatives and the harms of prohibition,” he says. “They may have more funds at this time, but we have the truth.”
To Marson, it’s about who’s backing you up, and as far as making the ballot, they know they’re the sole option. “It is an expensive effort to qualify something for the ballot,” he says.
Anti-legalization groups are also gearing up, though. And with Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery, Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall and Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk also on that anti-weed train, a lot of these groups might look good with some solid allies.
Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy became an official political action committee in the spring. The PAC’s chairman, Seth Leibsohn, says that, although they don’t like to throw out specific figures, the group’s goal is to raise and spend as much as necessary to annihilate legal weed.
The foundation of the campaign is to make a case for what they see as the harms of marijuana. Leibsohn says he has two-years-worth of peer reviewed articles from around the world, which the PAC will distribute at educational panels and community forums around the state. They are also partnering with state legislators and medical associations in every county.
“The campaign by the legalization folks and lobbyist from D.C. are making marijuana seem harmless or less harmful than it is. Ironically, scientific reports are coming out on the effects it has on the adolescent brain, for instance. Medical journals are showing the harms that come from marijuana, cognitive brain development, in some cases psychosis. It is a wake-up call to people,” he says, adding he expects the MPP measure will be up for vote in the general election next year. “For Arizona to legalize marijuana would be the end of decades and decades of hard work in our health care and adolescent system to prevent substance abuse and addiction.”
AZRDP and Pima County’s Community Prevention Coalition (you’ve seen their “Marijuana Harmless? Think Again” ads around town, right?) use Colorado as the Holy Grail of reasons to keep Arizona from going down the same path.
Studies like the Rocky Mountain HIDTA report shows a correlation between legalization and increased use by youth, an approximate 26 percent increase in monthly weed smoking among kids 12 to 17 years old in Colorado. Also, “On high school campuses, there was a 32 percent increase in drug related suspensions and expulsions, most notably from intoxication while in school,” says Amy Bass, head of the Pima County Community Prevention Coalition. The group has been making noise against marijuana and substance abuse since 2006. “As a state that has faced many struggles in education already, adding legal marijuana use to the equation is not a recipe for success. There are also additional concerns for the general population.”
Bass says the real reason MPP is pushing for legal weed so hard is to make a grand profit off people who smoke green. As a nonprofit, she knows they don’t have millions of dollars, but they have other things on their side that’ll hopefully make it a harder fight for MPP.
Neither Bass nor Leibsohn are buying the economic benefits MPP says legalization would bring the state. Undoubtedly money will come in, but even more will come out in the form of substance abuse programs for instance, according to both.
The tax revenue numbers coming out of Colorado are tempting, though. The weed industry took in $700 million last year, with $63 million in tax revenue and $13 million from licenses and fees, according to a report by the Washington Post, with an anticipated $94 million in revenue next year. WAPO suggests the figures are probably higher if you add up retail sales of products related to marijuana. A lot of these monies are being invested in education, and MPP plans to do the same here.
When he hears concerns for the youth, Marson wants to remind anti-weed groups that MPP’s measure would legalize use for adults 21 and over, and would establish criminal consequences for individuals who sell to minors.
“Prohibition does not work. It hasn’t worked for marijuana, just like it didn’t work for alcohol,” he says. (MPP’s initiative needs more than 150,000 signatures, but Marson says they expect to have way more than 200,000, in case some of the signatures are invalid.) “Marijuana is less harmful than alcohol, and it is well past time to make adult use of marijuana legal. Right now, marijuana is in the hands of the cartels. The cartels grow, distribute and sell it here in Arizona and across the country. This is an opportunity to regulate and tax it, take that away from the cartels, and bring in much needed state money to education and ensure marijuana is regulated for adult use.”
This article appears in Jul 2-8, 2015.
“Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol “
It would be nice if the campaign was more accurately named. It’s actually about regulating marijuana much more strictly than alcohol or tobacco. Adults can buy all the beer, wine and cigarettes they want at any corner market at rational prices even though those products are more harmful to users than cannabis.
Bradson, Truth in advertising has NEVER been the hallmark of political campaigns.
MPP is backed by the medical marijuana growers and distributors, who, after shelling out big dollars for their licenses and setups, want to keep the virtual monopoly on supply and distribution, in order to protect their investment.
Let’s take a time to ask what the objective here with MPP’s and AMR’s proposed initiatives. both are about establishment of a Marijuana business and it’s legitimacy. Both are about establishment of a Board that doesn’t even in it’s proposal resemble the Alcohol control board function duties or authority.
No where does the Alcohol control Board in Arizona give monies to education, welfare programs as seen fit by it’s director and board. I don’t believe the board limits micro brewery’s markets or it’s neighborhood competition. I don’t see the Alcohol Board having all Alcohol consumption under it’s control leaving the Medical based uses unto the medical field and health services.. MPP’s want to control all Industrial Hemp license and uses because of the possibility to manipulate the Delta 9 into viable psycho active uses.
I was of the understanding that the reason the first MMJ laws were passed was out of compassion for those that could be helped by the plant. The Cancer the MS the neurological and many more. I believe the Citizen’s in Arizona that waivered on voting for it did so out of compassion. I don’t think the core of the Arizona was voting for legalization but for Standards of testing and marketing controls. easy access for the afflicted to acquire without fear or retribution. What we seen is a Lottery system that rewards bad business models I am sure if the Alcohol control Board only allowed a few distilleries/brewery’s Enforced no home brewing with civil and criminal penalties. A beer would be $8.00 @ Happy Hour and shots would be $12.00 and only local produced product available.
Let’s ask ourselves do we need a Marijuana Control Board. A Board that wants to set up government as it sees fit the only way to change it is by voter referendum ? This is a slippery slope for sure I don’t think any of it is in the Citizens or the States bests interests. Just a select few
The MPP bill being pushed forward in Arizona is not just bad for marijuana smokers, it’s bad for all of Arizona. I am a cannabis user and avid supporter of medical marijuana rights. Under no circumstances do I want to see a bill like this passed in our state. Even if it was the last legalization bill on earth. First of all, lets talk criminal penalties. In the MPP bill to possess over 1 oz of marijuana will put you into the criminal felony bracket. This sets up countless potential recreational cannabis users for a whole lot of trouble. How are you pushing a “legalization” bill with felony penalties attached? What message are you sending? Here people we freed the weed now smoke up! It sounds like a bait and trap to anyone willing to take the risk. Trust me when I say there is no possible way the citizens of Arizona will hold to the 1 oz limit. They will have so many new criminals we wont have the jails to hold them all. This costs more for the tax payers, our taxes will be going into further expanding our prison for profit system in AZ that is fully supported by our Gov. We cannot do this to our state, to our citizens we just can’t. The risk to reward ratio with the mpp bill is not worth dismantling our entire working medical marijuana program. Marijuana is first medicine, not a college kid party drug. To put medical marijuana patients in risk is criminal. There are thousands of sick and elderly people who need marijuana which is already in short supply or costs too much. The dispensary prices are already out of reach for a lot of people. The dispensaries we have in place now are already barely handling supply to the patients in the valley. Now we’re going to let them sell it at an even higher price to everyone who want to party and light up once in a while? Really? That’s what we fought so hard for in 2012? Patients are covered under the medical marijuana act for possession of more marijuana than is being offered by the MPP initiative. There is no reason to sacrifice the sick and hurting in order to make a few dispensary owners rich. The medicine they need is already being held for ransom. We need to open this to a free fair market to drive prices down and bring in more cannabis and more competition into the valley. The MPP initiative 100% prevents that from happening. I prayyyyyy the AZFMR bill does get on the ballot. I am confident if it does the citizens of this state (cannabis users or not) will not put cannabis users in jail any longer for this plant. The AZFMR bill makes all marijuana violations petty offenses to misdemeanors. The fines can be set high, people do go to jail for not paying fines you know. So eventually the habitual law breakers will get themselves caught up with the jail system. As citizens of this state I ask you to not support this bill under any circumstances. It also puts any business that sells marijuana accessories, like pipes and bongs etc., under control of their proposed marijuana board. That means hundreds of smoke shots and glass shops around the valley will be subject to the whim of these people. They will find themselves under very restrictive and damaging regulations very quickly. The MPP bill sounds more like an gestpo bill then anything. Really go read it. You will be in shock. I supported marijuana legalization in AZ until I saw what their idea of that was. the MPP bill is not a legalization bill, it just reorganizes the criminal penalties, prevents small business expansions in the areas of smoke or liquor shops who may also want to sell recreational cannabis, limits new job growth in our state, opens the door for potentially thousands of more people having their lives ruined over a bag of weed, allows small possession, and eventual personal home growing of marijuana, but not until 2018!! yes that’s right the MPP and their chronies say they are in support of home personal growing but then decide out the gate to put a moratorium on it? Why? What is the purpose of that? They have been quoted over and over as saying they want to protect the dispensary owner investments. So basically the MPP is an undercover bailout and protection bill for dispensary owner and investors who made bad decisions the last time around, and are trying to recoup for their idiotic decisions in 2012 that has put them into this pickle. Please Please Please do your research. Be careful what you wish for! That bill is not legalization and is criminal penalties in recreational marijuana clothing. Our kids will suffer for many years to come if that communist type bill passes here. It will also set a terrible precedent for how AZ handles new forms of adult industries. Their bill lies from the very start. They are in no way “Regulating Marijuana like Alcohol,” not even close.
We should all look closely at the current dispensaries and their business model. Is this the kind of Tax & Grab industry we are trying to fund primary education?
Do we Need another police & license agency separate from the rest autonomous from judicial oversight. Stops all Hydroponics stores, neighborhood smoke shops. So thinking something bought on internet that is sold in another state like say a light or nutrients will and can be punishable under this new Marijuana Control Board.
Be very careful those that wave the flag of I just want t help you. Spend all the time in self promotion on their caring thoughtful endeavors. They don’t want to help you they want to help themselves to you. And take accolades for the quality of screwing.
It needs to be made clear that the money for opposition to legalization of marijuana in Arizona, and throughout the nation, comes from the “Big Five”, to wit:
1. Big Pharma;
2. Private prison corporations;
3. The beer, wine and liquor industry;
4. Police unions; and
5. Prison guard unions.
Jeffery here is a clue; The Police and Correctional officers are the same UNION the FOP. They both share in the State Retirement system for law enforcement. They are no against MPP’s version s this would give them revenues for the next 5 decades for sure. Just whom do you thnk MPP’s oard will be made up of ???? all these retired bureaucrats civil servants that want to make a whole new state run DEA. Big Pharma don’t care about state laws on VooDoo MMj as it is being implemented now. They will be looking and when they come out it will all be under FDA guidelines and insurance subsidized leaving the local storefront looking for Government for what?
Think about LEGALIZATION THINK IS IT REALLY LEGALIZATION?