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Arizona Up Next for Recreational Marijuana Use

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Arizona Next Up for Battle of Legalizing Recreational Marijuana

Oh, how far recreational “pot” has came… from the 70’s partying days to now becoming part of medical marijuana miracles. If anything cannabis has been fighting the fight to become legal for a very long time. Arizona is one of the next states to work on perfecting the laws on how to make this happen.

Not long after Arizona has decided to take the leap of faith into legalizing medical marijuana, they will begin the journey and trials of the legalization of recreational use of marijuana.

Laws of the similar nature have been passed in several states already, including: Alaska, Colorado, and Washington. Next year, the Marijuana Policy Project of Arizona is poised and voters will be heard.

 

Recreational Use Of Marijuana Laws

 

Treasurer of the MPP of Arizona and a lawyer with the Rose Law Group, Ryan Hurley, as said that he believes that the national MPP has been running the measure here due to the fact that “they think it’s going to pass.”

According to a recent poll that was issued by the Behavior Research Center around fifty-one percent of Arizona residents support the legalization and around forty-one percent are against it. However, before activists can put the option on the ballot for the 2016 voters to approve, there has to be one state lawmaker who wants the legislature to pass the measure.

Mark Cardenas who is a Democratic state representative had introduced a House Bill 2007 that outlined the system for taxing and regulation of Marijuana. Which also stated that it would be for anyone over the age of twenty-one years old in Arizona, which so far most states have agreed to this age limit in their proposals. Mark has said that if you wait for the voters to pass the initiative then it is pretty hard for the lawmakers to go back and make changes to to it.

Tax Sales on Marijuana

Mark says that the tax from the marijuana sales will help Arizona. The drug war hasn’t stopped people buying it illegally, according to Mark. If they decide to make it legal then tax it and make some money of the sales. That tax money will help Arizona fill the $500 million budget gap. Due to Mark’s proposal of $50 for an ounce of marijuana in Arizona. Which if it passes means a $48 million a year in revenue for the state according to analysts. Which he already has a plan for the extra money, thirty percent would go to education, ten percent would go to substance abuse programs, another ten percent would go to treatment programs, and fifty percent would of course go to the state’s general fund.

However, there is a grey area. According to the Maricopa County Attorney, Bill Montgomery, the costs that are associated with legalizing a drug such as marijuana will probably outweigh the revenue made from taxing it.

 

What Could be Arizona’s Next Move

The Arizona Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act may appear on the November 8, 2016, ballot in Arizona as an initiated state statute.

The measure, upon voter approval, would legalize the possession and consumption of marijuana by persons who are 21 years of age or older. People would be permitted to grow six plants in their homes. A 15 percent tax would be levied on the sale of marijuana, and revenue from the tax would be allocated to education and healthcare. The measure would establish a Department of Marijuana Licenses and Control which would be tasked with regulating the cultivation, manufacturing, testing, transportation and sale of marijuana. Local governments would be empowered to regulate and limit marijuana businesses. It was also designed to allow any medical marijuana facility to transition to a recreational marijuana facility.[1]

 

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Marijuana Problems in Phoenix

Marijuana Problems in Phoenix

Synthetic Marijuana Issues in Phoenix

 

According to the police officials, synthetic marijuana is on the rise. Not just in Phoenix either. A lot of major U.S. cities have recordings of the rise in synthetic marijuana. There’s been a surge of overdoses according to police officials. Even, a rise in violent crime.

The situation is becoming pretty severe. It actually escalated enough that police chiefs had a meeting in Washington has called for development or field tests that can hopefully help the police figure out who the suspects are on the synthetic marijuana.

Police say that the Marijuana is sold in “slickly marketed packets” with names like K2, Scooby Snax and Spice. The drugs are crazy and not smart to be messed with, being that they are made up of a “variety of chemicals” and actually have very little to do with real marijuana.

Chemicals in Synthetic Marijuana

The chemicals that are found in the packets vary. Even the packets that are identically branded have very different ingredients. Most users probably don’t even know what the heck they are smoking.

July the poison control centers in the United States had tallied 4,377 reports of people who suffered from the effects of synthetic marijuana. Last year the numbers were a little lower at 3,682, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers.

The users of the synthetic marijuana are now finding their way onto “police crime blotters”. There was a survey of thirty-five major city police departments across the United States has found out that thirty percent have contributed to some of the violent crimes related to the fake marijuana use.

William Bratton who is the New York Police commissioner has said during a press conference, that he’s calling it “weaponized marijuana”. He also said that it is a growing and huge concern.

 

William Bratton’s Statement:

These dangerous products do not belong on store shelves within our neighborhoods and are a threat to public health.

 

The New York Police Department has also said that there has been more than one hundred overdoes cases in just one month at the Bellevue Hospital trauma center.

In Washington the Metropolitan Police Department has said that there was a man who they believed to be suffering from the effects of synthetic marijuana. The man was on the synthetic marijuana and actually committed a gruesome, fatal stabbing on a metro train. The stabbing wasn’t a secret…he did it in plain sight of anyone who was on the subway on July 4th. The toxicology reports are not public at this time.

The EMS Department has said that their reports show that they have transported 439 people who were suffering from suspected synthetic marijuana overdoses in June.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, most of the synthetic marijuana actually comes from China. It’s then imported to the United States.

Law Enforcement have been trying to crack down on the synthetic marijuana situation. Convenience stores have even pulled items from their shelves. Now users have to use/know code names to get the drugs from store clerks or they can buy it from the street dealers.

The drugs can be very harmful. Causing hallucinogenic effects, nausea, agitation, seizures, and can even get as bad as causing suicidal or violent reactions.  The DEA says that the synthetic Marijuana falls under a “broad label of depressant-hallucinogens”. It actually has trouble classifying due to the several different types of chemicals that the manufacturers are using.

Homeless populations are on the front of heavy overdoses in some of the cities. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington is planning to start giving the homeless shelters presentations about the harmful usage of this drug and other drugs.

Of course the drugs are illegal. However, it’s hard to stop all use of the many different chemicals used to make the synthetic drugs.

There’s some speculation that police officers are looking to “blame” the synthetic drug for the heavy spikes in crime. It’s a big problem in several different communities.

 

Washington’s Metro Police Chief, Cathy Lanier’s Statement:

In some cities, synthetic cannabinoids is a huge issue, in other cities its just beginning to grow. Its connection to violence, that’s a gap that can be fixed.

 

 

Marijuana Drug Bust

 

Drug busts around the border are sadly not uncommon. A recent find by the Customs and Border Protection officers lead to the arrest of two different men. They used “get away” cars to hide a crime.

In July, there were two separate incidents where officers at the Port of Douglas had to inspect as well as confiscate two different cars. Both hiding a total of two hundred pounds of marijuana!

A man from Douglas, who was seventy-years old at the time, got arrested after officers found forty-three pounds of marijuana in the car’s bench set after they inspected the Ford truck he was driving.

The officers also made an arrest against a sixteen year old male from Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico. This was after they also inspected his Pontiac Sedan vehicle and found over one-hundred and fifty-six pounds of marijuana hidden throughout the whole car. Who knew a Pontiac could hold that much?

The drugs and of course, the vehicles had to be seized. The two men then got arrested and taken to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations .

 

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Medical Marijuana in Phoenix

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Medical Marijuana Concerns in Phoenix

Medical-marijuana facilities may soon have fewer options of where to open in Phoenix, through zoning changes the city is considering in advance of a possible statewide vote to make recreational use of the drug legal. Wochit

Medical-marijuana facilities may soon have fewer options of where to open in Phoenix, through zoning changes the city is considering in advance of a possible statewide vote to make recreational use of the drug legal.

The city’s planning and development department is proposing stricter regulations for new dispensaries, cultivation sites and infusion facilities. Industry advocates say the changes would make it even more difficult to find locations where they could operate. 

New medical-marijuana sites would have to be farther from places of worship and residential areas, if the changes are approved. They also would have to follow new requirements on their distance from day-care centers, homeless shelters and youth community centers.

The proposed changes are driven in part by the Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act that could go to voters in November, Planning and Development Director Alan Stephenson said. The initiative would allow adults 21 and older to buy, grow and possess marijuana — which would be taxed — with certain restrictions.

The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol is still collecting voter signatures to qualify the initiative for the November election.

Phoenix would draft new zoning requirements for recreational uses if the act is passed by voters. But existing medical-marijuana dispensaries would have the right to operate as recreational dispensaries, as the initiative is written now.

That means Phoenix needs to prepare, Stephenson said. The city’s Planning Commission will consider the stricter zoning rules April 7, with a possible vote by the City Council later this month.

“We need to be a little more cautious in how we treat these things,” Stephenson said.

Medical marijuana in Phoenix

 Ryan Lewis of one the employee of Mohave Green’s Choice Cannabis indoor grow operation, located at undisclosed location in Mohave Valley a spans 14,000 square feet across two levels. He also has rooms for trimming, harvesting and packaging. He said his operation can produce about 2,500 pounds each year. Nick Oza/The Republic

Effects on neighborhoods a big concern

City Council members have asked staff to move swiftly on drafting tougher regulations.

Several have raised concerns about how the legalization of recreational marijuana would affect Phoenix neighborhoods, and said the city should be prepared for the initiative to pass.

The city has more than a dozen medical-marijuana dispensaries. Many dispensaries in other parts of the state can now relocate, driving requests for more.

When state voters passed the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act in 2010, dispensaries were limited to one per geographic region— called Community Health Analysis Areas — as designated by the Arizona Department of Health Services. Dense cities like Phoenix have more analysis areas than other parts of the state.

Dispensaries are allowed to locate anywhere in the state after three years of operation, with most now meeting that requirement.

part 2

New medical-marijuana facilities will lose some options of where they can locate in Phoenix, under stricter rules approved by the City Council on Wednesday.

Dispensaries, as well as cultivation and infusion businesses, will have to find sites farther away from residential areas and places of worship than previously required by the city.

Phoenix also added day-care centers, homeless shelters and youth community centers to the list of places a facility must be at least a quarter-mile from.

The City Council voted 8-0 to pass the new regulations with an emergency clause, making them effective immediately. Councilman Sal DiCiccio did not vote.

The changes moved swiftly through the city process as Phoenix prepares for the possible legalization of recreational marijuana through a statewide voter initiative. Updates to the state’s medical-marijuana program mean additional dispensaries could look to locate in the city soon.

 

Council members denied a Planning Commission amendment to allow cultivation and infusion facilities — where marijuana is processed for products like edible goods — to open closer together, a request of industry leaders. Several city leaders asked if the new regulations could be tougher than those proposed.

The changes will reduce the acreage available for dispensaries from 4.1 percent of the city to 2.3 percent, according to a staff report. For cultivation and infusion facilities, that percentage drops from 13 percent to 11 percent.

“I wish I could do more, but our hands are a little tied,” Councilman Jim Waring said.

New rules as strict as possible

Council members voiced particular concern over the Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act that could go to voters in November. If passed, the initiative would legalize recreational use of the drug.

The city would draft new zoning regulations, but existing medical-marijuana dispensaries would be allowed to open as recreational facilities. Waring said he expects to receive neighborhood complaints if that happens.

“We’re doing everything we can to make sure it doesn’t happen to you,” he said.

And the city could see more medical-marijuana dispensary applications soon, said Alan Stephenson, director of the Planning and Development Department.

Dispensaries originally confined to other parts of the state can move after three years of operation. That now includes many of the first dispensaries opened after state voters passed the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act in 2010.

Phoenix also expects the state to release additional dispensary certificates this summer, Stephenson said.

Stephenson said the new rules are as strict as they can be while still allowing medical-marijuana facilities to legally locate within the city. Even tougher regulations could be hard for the city to defend in the case of a lawsuit, he said.

“We can’t use our zoning authority to say, ‘We don’t want those,’ ” Stephenson said.

The changes do not affect facilities already in operation.

Under the new rules, a medical-marijuana facility will have to be 1,320 feet from a place of worship instead of the previous 500 feet. The distance from residential areas doubles from 250 to 500 feet for dispensaries.

The 1,320-foot distance requirement already in place for schools and public parks will apply for day-care centers, homeless shelters and youth community centers.

Dispensaries, cultivation sites and infusion facilities must maintain a one-mile distance from one another. The Planning Commission proposed reducing that to one-third of a mile, based on medical-marijuana industry input.

Demitri Downing, who represents the industry, advocated for that change at the meeting. Landlords are looking to rent out buildings in industrial areas, and the sites have no neighborhood impact, he said.

“You’re encouraging the jobs to go elsewhere,” Downing said of the denial.

Councilwoman Kate Gallego said she foresees the city’s planning decisions to evolve from Wednesday’s vote.

“I am confident we do not have the perfect answers today,” she said.

 

 

 

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Plans to Legalize Marijuana in Arizona

Marijuana facilities are popping up everywhere. New laws are being passed daily to make this possible, which a lot of people are thankful for.

A new proposal has been placed so that they can legalize marijuana in Arizona. According to the reports, the proposal is right on track and is most likely to qualify for the ballot since the state joins the ever growing movement to loosen up on the marijuana laws around the country in the elections.

One of the spokes people for the Arizona’s leading recreational marijuana imitative says that things are looking good. The movement has already gotten 140,000 out of the required 150,000 that are needed to be on the ballot.

The campaign is shooting to get even more than the required number of signatures so they can have back up signatures for any that might/ will get disqualified. The campaign will be trying hard until their July deadline to get all of the signatures.

 

Marijuana Policy Project’s Arizona Director, Carlos Alfara Statement:

We are riding the wave of public opinion that prefers regulation and taxation rather than criminalization and prohibition.
According to recent studies, Arizona is one of nine states that have pending recreational marijuana initiatives this year. Some of the others are California, Massachusetts, Main, and Nevada.
According to the The Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act, it would allow people who are over the age of twenty-one to carry up to one ounce of marijuana on them. They could grow up to six plants and even carry up to five grams of “concentrated marijuana”. That concentrated marijuana could be hash oil or a variety of other different cannabis extracts.
 It would also help the stated by establishing a state licensing agency for marijuana, by placing a 15% tax on marijuana and related products. That means that eighty percent of the tax proceeds would go towards education and twenty percent would be set aside for the Department of Health Services.

People Protest Pot Bill

 

Of course, with anything now days there always has to be some sort of fight or protest. An alliance has now been formed to oppose the measure that the Maricopa County has been working so hard for.  Bill Montgomery who is an attorney with Maricopa County have stepped forward and came out against the bill and it’s plan.

 Montgomery is opposed to drug legalization. He thinks that the way that the measure is written that it will allow current medical marijuana dispensaries to essentially have a monopoly over the pot sales in the state.  So, technically he’s just worried about the bottom dollar.
This new initiative would allow the state to be able to issued around 150 licenses for businesses to sell marijuana. Which looks like that wold help any state with the tax recovery the would make on it. Of course, the medical pot dispensaries will have the first dibs on the 120 licenses which would only leave a little amount left for anyone else.

 Montgomery’s Statement:

 This is the 21st-century way that one drug dealer keeps another drug dealer off their corner. This is an absolute abuse of the initiative process by a special interest group in Arizona.
Jason Medar, who is a manager for a competing initiative says that the Marijuana Policy Prospect’s proposal doesn’t even offer consumer protections. Medar’s initiative is known as the Campaign to Legalize and Regulate Marijuana. Medar believes that he’s going to make easier for those people who are not already in the medical marijuana industrious to get a license. The initiative is doing well, with around 70,000 signatures so far.
Alfaro doesn’t think that every medical marijuana dispensary will apply for a recreational license. Which makes sense, some dispensaries might just keep things medical use only. Alfaro’s campaign will offer a more balanced approach to legalization.

Alfaro’s Statement:

Not only do we think this is going to be on the ballot but it’s the most viable policy we have. We have had prohibition since 1937. We have to start at a point that people are willing to accept.
Diane Douglas who is the Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction, denounced that the imitative in a press release just last week. She believes that it would cause a great contradiction for teachers who try to teach the students not to use drugs as well as other ethics.

Douglas’s Statement:

By using drug money to educate our children, regardless of the drug we choose, we’re creating a world where we’re funding our schools by betting against the people graduating from them, and I cannot morally support that stance.
She could be right. The thing is we’ll never know until we try some new things. I personally thing this would be great for twenty-one year old and older because they’re old enough to make their own decisions. but this would definitely help a lot of states who are in finical trouble.

 

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New Bill To Legalize Marijuana Use in Arizona

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New Bill Makes It Legal to Use Marijuana in Arizona

 

Times are changing. Some things for the better, some things for the worse. You can be the judge of what’s good or bad. A state representative has now introduced a new bill that would make it legal the recreation use of marijuana in Arizona.

 

The new bill, House Bill 2007, will allow anyone who is o twenty-one or older to legally possess an ounce or less of marijuana.

 

If you are twenty-one or older, you could even legally grow at most five marijuana plants. You could even exchange an ounce of marijuana between people as long as your of age. However, you can not sale it.  There is going to be a tax of $50 that would be levied on every ounce that is transferred from a grow facility to a retail store.

 

Marijuana Bill Taxes Sales of Marijuana

Of course taxing things helps the state, fifty percent of the tax would actually go into Arizona’s “general” fund. Thirty percent of the tax would go towards the education and the rest of the tax would go to public health and education programs.

 

If you’re not a fan of marijuana, good news for you. Public smoking would still be banned on Marijuana use.

 

 Richard Baker (Who uses Marijuana for Medical Reason’s) Statement:

All these kids are doing to get it, and then what’s going to happen? We’re going to have a bunch of flunkies.

 

While Mr. Baker has to use the drug for rheumatoid arthritis, he knows first hand the negative side effects of marijuana. He says that marijuana has dulled his memory.

 

Stev-0’s Statement about Taxing Marijuana

I think it costs us more to try to stop it than what it would actually cost to allow it to be legal.

 

Stev-O admitted to using Marijuana for de-stressing and sporadic pains.

 

Right now the only place recreational use of marijuana is in Colorado and Washington State.

 

Source: https://www.abc15.com/news/region-northern-az/other/bill-would-legalize-recreational-marijuana-in-arizona

 

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Medical Marijuana Still Counts as DUI

Medical Marijuana Money Seized

Court Ruling Proves Medical Marijuana Can Cause DUI

 

People have been speculating like crazy ever since laws have been passing for the use of Marijuana medical or residential. Citizens have had a ton of questions how this is going to work? What if someone uses Marijuana and then drives? Will they be punished? Is there a limit to how much you can smoke? How do you know how that will affect the person using it?

 

Arizona lawmakers have answered some of those tough questions. A recent court ruling says that Arizona residents who have Medical Marijuana Cards that allows them to legally smoke pot can and will be prosecuted under certain laws against driving under the influence while they have Marijuana in their system.

 

Court Rules For Making it Possible for DUI if Using Marijuana

 

A state Court of Appeals panel, which consists of three judges has ruled just last month, that a medical Marijuana user is not immune from prosecution under the DUI laws. Seems like Arizona law is making it pretty clear they are not allowing people to use Marijuana as an excuse to drive recklessly. There was a different panel of Court of Appeals judges who has also reached the same decision in a ruling on Tuesday.

 

The worries comes from a case of two defendants who both had medical marijuana cards. The two defendants tried to point at a medical marijuana law provision that would provide partial legal shield for the use of marijuana (pot) that is prescribed by a physician. Of course, the latest ruling shows that physicians do not actually prescribe medical marijuana, they just certify a patient’s eligibility to do so.

 

So don’t think you can get a little buzz then drive and say it’s ok because it’s medical marijuana, that excuse won’t work in Arizona.

 

Source: https://www.abc15.com/news/region-phoenix-metro/central-phoenix/2nd-ruling-pot-law-doesnt-provide-dui-immunity

 

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