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US: Campaigns to legalize recreational marijuana cultivate support, opposition in AZ Lauren Reimer KVOA Saturday 11 Jul 2015 On Friday, one such effort set up shop outside of Woods Library in Tucson. With 35,000 signatures down, and 115,000 more to go, the group Marijuana Policy Project is just one of several initiatives trying to get the question 'Should Arizona legalize marijuana?' before the voters in Nov. 2016. "As long as it's regulated just like alcohol [for] people over 21 from a licensed business," petitioner Mark Swanson explained to those interested in signing. Their effort, called the ‘Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol' promises a 15 percent marijuana sales tax to go to the state to help fund public health and education. "I think it would be good for the economy, bring in a lot of money," said Isaac Moraga, who signed the petition. Supporters believe it'll also help cut down on criminal activity. "Less opportunity for the illegal selling of the product," said Jean-Paul Genet, a medical cannabis cultivator. Not all are so quick to pick up a pen. "It’s going to be everywhere," said Amy Nutbrown, who opposed legalizing marijuana. "We're going to have to smell it. We're going to have to deal with it all. It’s at the swap meets. You can't even walk down the swap meet without getting it in your face, and I have little grand kids and I don't want them around that." 'Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy' was recently formed to prevent the legalization of marijuana. "When you legalize a dangerous substance, you cannot confine it to those 21 and above," said the group's chairman, Seth Leibsohn. "What's especially dangerous about marijuana is that it most negatively affects the teen and adolescent growing brain." With four states and Washington D.C. already going before Arizona to make the drug legal, some say it's only a matter of time before it happens here. "Having it illegal is a complete waste of our resources,” said Genet. A similar effort by a different group failed to collect enough signatures in 2014. The group running this petition is the same one that successfully got the issue voted on and passed in Colorado in 2012. Genet said, since there are several similar campaigns organized by different groups in Arizona, voters are allowed to sign one, or all of them if they wish. The organizing groups would be required to sit down together and agree on the wording for a single proposition, if they all come up with enough signatures to get on the Nov. 2016 ballot. http://www.kvoa.com/story/29523814/campaigns-to-legalize-recreational-marijuana-cultivate-support-opposition-in-az
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