Arizona Legalization and Regulation of Marijuana Act (2016)

See also: Arizona Marijuana Legalization, Proposition 205 (2016)

Arizona Legalization and Regulation of Marijuana Act
Election date November 8, 2016
Topic Marijuana
Status Not on the ballot
Type State statute	Origin Citizens

Not on Ballot
This measure was not put on an election ballot

The Legalization and Regulation of Marijuana Act did not make the November 8, 2016, ballot in Arizona as an initiated state statute.

The measure would have legalized marijuana and outline how to regulate the drug. It would have done the following:

• Allowed anyone at least 21 years old to consume, possess and grow limited amounts of marijuana
• Created a Department of Marijuana Licenses and Control to regulate the marijuana industry
• Established a 10 percent tax on retail marijuana sales
• Reduced criminal penalties for marijuana offenses
• Created a system of licensed businesses to produce and sell marijuana
• Empowered local governments to regulate marijuana businesses

Revenue collected from taxes on marijuana sales would have been used for education and public health.

A separate initiative called the Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act was sponsored by the Arizona branch of the Marijuana Policy Project. For details about the Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act, click here.

If both initiatives would have reached the ballot and received majority approval from the voters, the one with the most "yes" votes would have superseded the other wherever the initiatives conflicted. Any non-conflicting provisions of both initiatives would have been enacted.

Jason Medar, the organizer of the campaign for this initiative, said that they were unable to collect enough signatures, restart the campaign for the 2018 ballot, and worked to campaign against the competing Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act sponsored by the Arizona branch of the Marijuana Policy Project.

Text of the Measure

Ballot summary

Below was a summary of the initiative:

“

The LEGALIZATION and Regulation of Marijuana Act: (1) establishes a 10% tax on retail marijuana sales, from which the revenue will be allocated to public health and education; (2) allows adults twenty-one years of age and older to legally possess, consume, and grow limited amounts of marijuana; (3) reduces criminal penalties for marijuana offenses; (4) creates a system in which licensed businesses will produce and sell marijuana; (5) establishes a Department of Marijuana Licenses and Control to regulate licensed businesses that produce, cultivate, or sell marijuana; (6) provides local governments with the authority to regulate marijuana businesses.

”

Full text

The full text of the measure can be read here.

Support

The Campaign to Legalize and Regulate Marijuana was behind this initiative. Jason Medar was the initiative petition applicant and the chairman of the Campaign to Legalize and Regulate Marijuana. The initiative was sponsored by Arizonans for Mindful Regulation.

Background

Medical marijuana

Voting on Marijuana
Ballot Measures
By state
By year
Not on ballot
Local Local marijuana Local marijuana tax

Arizonans approved Proposition 200, a measure designed to allow doctors to prescribe marijuana and other Schedule I drugs to treat patients, in 1996. Lawmakers in the Arizona Legislature passed a bill the following year requiring the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve medical marijuana before doctors could prescribe the drug. Sam Vagenas, a backer of Proposition 200, contended, "There's no doubt they're gutting the will of the people." The Bill Clinton administration's Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Director Barry McCaffrey lauded the legislature's move, saying, "The Legislature of Arizona has taken a very responsible course of action."

Voters rejected a referendum, titled Proposition 300, on the bill to require the FDA to approve marijuana and other drugs before doctors could prescribe the drugs. As voters rejected the referendum, they effectively voted to uphold the section of Proposition 200 allowing doctors to prescribe Schedule I drugs.

Proponents of Proposition 200 were involved in crafting Proposition 105 in 1998. Although Proposition 105 had nothing to do with medical marijuana, proponents saw the initiative as a means to decreasing legislative alteration with marijuana initiatives in the future. Supporters did not want a repeat of what the legislature did to Proposition 200. The measure was approved, and it required a three-fourths vote in the legislature to amend an approved initiative.

In 2010, proponents of medical marijuana celebrated a narrow victory in Proposition 203. The Arizona Republic reported that every year between Proposition 203's approval and 2016, the Arizona Legislature attempted to limit access to medical marijuana.

State legislation

Legalization bills

In January 2015, Rep. Mark Cardenas (D-19) introduced a proposal to legalize recreational marijuana. He argued that voters would pass an initiative in 2016 unless the Arizona Legislature first approved recreational marijuana. Referring to laws preventing the legislature from altering or repealing citizen initiatives, he said there were benefits to legislative approval that would not come with initiative approval. Cardenas noted, "We've seen issues with our medical-marijuana system ... but it's nearly impossible to come back at the Legislature and adjust it because we need 75 percent of the Legislature (to approve any changes to a voter-approved measure). This would give us more leeway. If there were unforeseen consequences, we could easily come back and adjust it the next year." He continued, "We have to be smart about governing. If it's going to happen, let's get ahead of it and make sure we have the conversations to come up with the best program possible." Cardenas' House Bill 2007 was designed to legalize the purchase, possession and consumption of marijuana for persons who are 21 years of age or older. The bill was also written to regulate and tax marijuana. HB 2007 was not approved in 2015. Cardenas compared his proposed system to Colorado's, which was approved by voters in 2012.

Blocking bills

See also: 2015 and 2016 changes to laws governing initiatives

Several laws were proposed by state legislators in 2015 and 2016 to directly impede initiatives legalizing marijuana or to indirectly make them more difficult by imposing additional restrictions on the initiative process. These efforts included both a failed bill proposed in 2015 and a 2016 bill designed to require a 75 percent and 60 percent supermajority, respectively, to approve any initiative that conflicted with federal law or proposed the legalization of a federally banned substance such as marijuana. Other laws were designed to impose distribution requirements for initiative signature gathering or allow the legislature more authority to alter or repeal citizen initiatives. For details about such laws proposed in 2015, click here, and, for details about changes to the Arizona initiative process proposed in 2016, click here.

Polls

Arizona Recreational Marijuana Poll
Poll	Support	Oppose	Undecided	Margin of error	Sample size
Arizona Republic 4/11/2016 - 4/14/2016	43.0%	49.0%	8.0%	+/-4.0	500
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in Arizona

Initiative proponents needed to collect 150,642 signatures by July 7, 2016, to land the measure on the ballot. The signature requirement for Arizona initiatives is tied to the number of votes cast for the office of governor in the most recent gubernatorial election. initiated state statutes such as this initiative require signature equal 10 percent of the votes cast for gubernatorial candidates.

In late February 2016, Arizonans for Mindful Regulation announced that the mostly volunteer team of signature gatherers had collected about 100,000 signatures.

On June 1, 2016, Jason Medar, campaign manager of Arizonans for Mindful Regulation, announced that they would not be able to collect enough signatures and suspended the campaign to focus on the 2018 ballot.

State profile

Demographic data for Arizona
	Arizona	U.S.
Total population:	6,817,565	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	113,594	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	78.4%	73.6%
Black/African American:	4.2%	12.6%
Asian:	3%	5.1%
Native American:	4.4%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.2%	0.2%
Two or more:	3.2%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	30.3%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	86%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	27.5%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$50,255	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	21.2%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Arizona. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Arizona

Arizona voted Republican in six out of the seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

More Arizona coverage on Ballotpedia

• Elections in Arizona
• United States congressional delegations from Arizona
• Public policy in Arizona
• Endorsers in Arizona
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• More...

See also

Suggest a link

• 2016 ballot measures
• Arizona 2016 ballot measures
• Laws governing the initiative process in Arizona