Medical Marijuana Makes the Ballot in Arizona

6/2/2010 – Michael Whitney, Elections

A bit of good news coming out of Arizona, despite the state’s disaster of immigration policy. Medical marijuana advocates in Arizona announced today that they qualified for a spot on this year’s ballot after turning in about 252,000 signatures, well more than the 145,000 required by the state. That means when Arizonans hit the polls this November, they’ll be able to vote to allow medical marijuana use in the state.

Arizona previously voted on medical marijuana measures in 1996, 1998, and 2002. While voters twice voted in favor of doctors prescribing medical marijuana, pressure from the Arizona legislature and federal DEA rendered the referendums useless. A 2002 effort to allow doctors to legally “recommend” marijuana failed at the ballot.

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LATEST NEWS

Washington State Favors Marijuana Legalization 52% to 35%
6/2/2010 – Michael Whitney, Elections

From Fear to Fair: Criminal Cannabis Can Transform into a Law-Abiding Business
5/28/2010 – Jon Walker, FDL Action

Unions Begin to Organize California Marijuana Industry
5/28/2010 – Michael Whitney, Work in Progress

ACTION: Defend the 1st Amendment in Washington State
5/25/2010 – Brian Sonenstein, FDL Action

Colorado Voters Favor Legalizing and Taxing Cannabis, 49%-39%
5/17/2010 – Jon Walker, FDL Elections

» More articles

WHY LEGALIZE?

Ending marijuana prohibition will bring tremendous benefits to states and communities that take up this task. Legalization isn’t just about personal freedom – if we regulate marijuana like alcohol, we will also benefit from tax revenue, prison reform, and social justice.

Tax Revenue

  • Legalizing marijuana would bring in more than $1.5 billion annually in California, and tens of millions more for other states if they legalize.
  • Tax revenues from marijuana would pay for tens of thousands of police, firefighters, or teachers recently fired because of budget shortfalls

Fight Crime

  • Legalizing marijuana would dramatically harm Mexican drug cartels, which use the profits from illegal marijuana sales to fund the rest of their illegal activities.
  • Police would be able to focus on the distribution of hard, illegal drugs and round up violent offenders

Justice for Communities

  • African Americans, who make up 12% of the population, are 38% of those imprisoned for drugs. Latinos make up half of all those arrested nationwide for marijuana offenses.
  • More than 200,000 students have been denied federal financial aid because of marijuana possession convictions, unfairly affecting minority students.

TAKE ACTION

A federally funded drug task force seized as evidence up to 200 petition signatures for marijuana legalization in Washington State in series of early-morning raids this week. Sign our petition to get the signatures back:

“To WestNet Narcotics Enforcement Team:

Petition signatures seized in a medical marijuana dispensary are evidence of nothing but an exercise in democracy. WestNet needs to return all 200 petition signatures and destroy any copies made of the petitions.”

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