Opposition Is Minimal (So Far) in the Recreational Cannabis Effort for 2020 in Arizona

Arizona’s recreational cannabis ballot initiative already has surpassed 150,000 signatures, according to the Smart and Safe Arizona campaign.

The number, confirmed by Stacy Pearson at Strategies 360, the PR firm running the campaign, shouldn’t surprise anyone.

With over $1.6 million in funding, the political action committee formed to push the ballot initiative is the best-funded PAC in the state, according to campaign finance filings. What is surprising is the seeming lack of any opposition in a state that, just four years ago, narrowly struck down a similar bill.

Mikel Weisser, executive director of the Arizona chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, who was stigmatized for trying to rally the cannabis community in 2016, hasn’t been facing the same pushback this year.

“The biggest opposition is coming from, uh, people in the industry who organized the group called the Arizona Cannabis Chamber of Commerce,” Weisser said. “Their principal objections have virtually nothing to do with patient rights and are entirely about business structure.”

Tom Dean, a Phoenix attorney who specializes in marijuana and business law, echoed this sentiment. In a Facebook livestream with Stephen Wisniewski of Safer Arizona, the two point out some problems that can be fixed in 2024, but both support the upcoming 2020 initiative. [Read more at Phoenix News Times]