Proponents of a statewide initiative to legalize the use and sale of marijuana by adults today filed over 420,000 signatures with the Secretary of State’s Office. That total is nearly twice the number of signatures from registered voters necessary to qualify it for the November 2020 ballot.
The measure, known as the Smart and Safe Arizona Act, was filed last year by a coalition of advocacy groups, including Arizona NORML. According to polling data collected in early June, an estimated two-thirds of Arizona voters say that they will “definitely” or “probably” vote ‘yes’ on the measure if it appears on the November ballot.
Some 237,645 signatures must be validated by the Secretary of State’s Office to certify the initiative measure.
The Act permits those 21 or older to possess up to one ounce of cannabis and directs revenue from retail cannabis sales to fund various public education and safety programs. Adults would also be cultivate up to six plants for non-commercial purposes in a private residence. Those with marijuana convictions would be permitted to petition the courts to have their records expunged.
Adult-use ballot initiatives have already qualified for the ballot in New Jersey and South Dakota. Ballot initiatives to legalize medical access to cannabis will appear on the ballot in Mississippi and South Dakota. On Friday, proponents in Montana provided signatures to state officials in en effort to qualify a pair of initiatives legalizing the retail production and sale of cannabis to adults. In Nebraska, activists are anticipated to turn in signatures tomorrow in support of a medicalization initiative.
Additional information on these and other pending 2020 initiative efforts is available here.
