Arizona Supreme Court says ballot measure to legalize marijuana can appear on November ballot

The Arizona Supreme Court cleared the way Thursday for voters to decide on legalizing marijuana.

The court unanimously rejected a legal challenge to the Smart and Safe Arizona Act, ensuring it can appear on the ballot in November.

The order was just part of a flurry of decisions and announcements that included the state’s high court shooting down an appeal by the backers of an initiative that would raise pay for many health care workers and reign in the medical industry practice known as surprise billing, scrapping that measure from the ballot.

And a Maricopa County Superior Court judge maintained that supporters of a proposal to overhaul the state’s criminal sentencing laws did not collect enough valid petition signatures to get the initiative in front of voters in the general election.

That leaves Arizonans to decide on only two of the four initiatives proposed this year: one to legalize marijuana and another to increase funding for public schools by raising income taxes on higher income earners.

Marijuana initiative gets OK

The Smart and Safe Arizona Act would allow people 21 and older to posses up to an ounce of marijuana — currently a felony — and set up a system of licensing retailers to sell the drug, along with other provisions. [Read more at azcentral]