Arizona Marijuana Legalization Initiative (2018)
| Arizona Marijuana Legalization Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 6, 2018 | |
| Topic Marijuana | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type State statute | Origin Citizens |
The Arizona Marijuana Legalization Initiative was not on the ballot in Arizona as an initiated state statute on November 6, 2018.
The measure would have legalized the possession, use, and consumption of marijuana for persons age 21 and older. The measure would have also allowed for the cultivation of up to 48 plants with more than a 0.3 percent THC level. The initiative would have prohibited local jurisdictions from passing laws designed to prohibit the operation of marijuana-related businesses.[1]
Text of measure
Full text
The full text of the initiative is available here.
Initiative sponsors
Safer Arizona led the campaign in support of the initiative.[2]
Arguments
Dave Wisniewski, chairman of Safer Arizona, differentiated his group's ballot initiative from the legalization measure that failed at the ballot box in 2016. He said:[3]
| “ | This is what people are getting at when they go for cannabis legalization. Everything that has passed so far has been investor driven and doesn’t take on the whole problem. …
Prop. 205 was legitimately a very flawed law. There was a large population of cannabis consumers who voted ‘no’ on it. I don’t believe Arizona voted down Prop. 205 because they didn’t want marijuana.[4] |
” |
Developments in federal marijuana policy
- See also: Federal policy on marijuana, 2017-2018
Although the Department of Justice under Presidents Trump (R) and Obama (D) has not prosecuted most individuals and businesses following state and local marijuana laws as of January 2018, both medical and recreational marijuana are illegal under federal law. In November 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions (R)—a Trump nominee—told Congress that the policy of his office would stay fundamentally the same as that of the previous two attorneys general, Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch. On January 4, 2018, however, Sessions rescinded the Cole Memo, a 2013 directive that deprioritized the enforcement of federal marijuana laws in states where marijuana had been legalized. This allows federal prosecutors to decide whether or not to enforce federal law regarding marijuana.[5][6]
Path to the ballot
The number of signatures required to qualify an initiated state statute for the ballot is equivalent to 10 percent of the number of votes cast for the office of governor in the most recent gubernatorial election.
The initiative was filed on March 7, 2017, by Safer Arizona. Supporters of the initiative were required to collect 150,642 valid signatures by July 5, 2018.[7] No signatures were filed.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Arizona Secretary of State, "Initiative," accessed February 24, 2017
- ↑ Safer Arizona, "Homepage," accessed February 17, 2017
- ↑ Cronkite News, "Arizona group files initiative to put recreational marijuana on ballot again," February 16, 2017
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Forbes, "Sessions: Obama Marijuana Policy Remains In Effect," November 14, 2017
- ↑ The Hill, "Read: Attorney General Jeff Sessions's memo changing marijuana policy," January 4, 2018
- ↑ Arizona Secretary of State, "2018 Initiatives, Referendums & Recalls," accessed February 16, 2017
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