Homeless in Arizona

"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."

And I doubt if the government will every increase the number of shops beyond the current 150. Probably because the 150 existing shops, will bribe, oops, I mean give huge campaign contributions to the elected officials to assure they keep their limited monopoly.

The only difference between this and Prop 203, or Arizona's Medical Marijuana Act is Prop 203 limits the number of shops to 127. And those shops will be grandfathered in so only 23 new shops while be allowed with this initiative.

It limits people to possession a lousy 1 ounce of marijuana. That's silly and kind of like saying its a OK to have 6 cans of beer, but it's a felony to have 7 cans of beer.

You can only grow 6 plants in a secure area. I suspect the definition of a secure area is something like Fort Knox, which makes it too expensive for a normal person to grow marijuana. Kind of like the current secure area in Prop 203.

It also creates a 15 percent sin tax on marijuana. That sin tax will be a whopping $45 an ounce if recreational marijuana sells for the same $300 an ounce outrageous price that medical marijuana sells for.

The initiative will also create a huge government bureaucracy to micro-manage marijuana users and the marijuana industry. And of course that will almost certainly drive up prices and create silly laws which will continue to throw people in prison for victimless drug war crimes.

This is an alternative to this horrible initiative pushed by MPP. It's the RAD or Relegalize All Drugs initiative.

The RAD initiative legalizes marijuana and makes it illegal for the government to tax or regulate marijuana.

There is a link to the RAD initiative at the end of this article.

Source

Ballot measure will ask Arizona voters to legalize marijuana

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. [i.e. a huge government bureaucracy to micromanage marijuana users]

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. [i.e. it creates a huge government bureaucracy to micromanage marijuana users.] It also establishes a 15 percent tax on retail sales to be allocated to education, including full-day kindergarten and public health. [That will be a $45 an ounce tax on recreational marijuana which is selling for around $300 an ounce in states where it is legal]

"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. [Yea, that's all talk. The real purposes of the initiative seems to create a government monopoly for 150 marijuana stores so they can get rich selling the rest of us $300 an ounce marijuana]

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.

"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. [Sounds like we will have a bunch of unelected government bureaucrats micromanaging the lives of marijuana users if this passes.]

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. [Currently Prop 203 or Arizona's Medical Marijuana Act only allows 127 marijuana dispensaries. Since those stores will be grandfathered in this initiative will only allow 23 new marijuana stores. ]

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.

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. Cody Lewis, employee of Mohave Green Choice Cannabis, checks a watering marijuana plant at an indoor grow operation in Mohave Valley. (Photo: Nick Oza/The Republic)

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

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.

SOURCE: Marijuana Policy Project, Nov. 5 Jolie Lee and Karl Gelles, USA TODAY Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, The Republic | azcentral.com 5:33 a.m. MST April 17, 2015 Marijuana legalization initiative

Under the initiative, adults 21 and older can possess up to 1 ounce of marijuana.

Arizonans could grow up to six plants in their homes without obtaining licenses, as long as the plants are in a secure area of the home.

The initiative establishes a 15 percent tax on retail sales that would be allocated to education and public health.

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

Here is a link to the RAD initiative to relegalize marijuana.

http://relegalize.100webspace.net/legalize_marijuana.php

If the RAD initiative is passed the price of recreation marijuana will probably a dollar or two a pound.

If the MPP initiative is passed the price of recreation marijuana will probably be $300 an ounce or $4,800 a pound.

Here is a link to the RAD web page on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/RADArizona