Homeless in Arizona

This article correctly points out that the Safer Arizona 2018 initiative will replace many of the current felony marijuana crimes, with crimes that are misdemeanors or just punished with fines.

I wrote a lot of the Safer Arizona initiative and was kicked off the Safer Arizona Board of Directors by Dave Wisniewski because I was complaining that Tom Dean was turning the initiative into a watered down version of Prop 205.

The way me, Dave and Alex Gentry originally wrote the Safer Arizona initiative it was a lot like the RAD initiative that I also wrote, in that it completely legalized marijuana, with the exception of an 18 year age limit, and it allowed a small sales tax on marijuana.

When marijuana criminals defense lawyer Tom Dean got involved it watered the initiative down so that it included a number of crimes. Such as growing or selling marijuana within 1000 feet of a school is a crime.

He also added some zoning rubbish which allows city and county governments to pass zoning laws which could be used to severely limit the number of marijuana stores in a city and county . If you want an initiative that supports the complete and total legalization of marijuana support the 2018 RAD or Relegalize All Drugs initiative. You can see the simple 11 lines of the initiative here:

http://relegalize.100webspace.net/legalize_marijuana_2018.php

http://apps.azsos.gov/election/2018/general/ballotmeasuretext/I-12-2018.pdf

Source

Recreational marijuana may be headed back to the ballot

Johana Restrepo , The Republic | azcentral.com 8:36 p.m. MT May 6, 2017

The Safer Arizona Cannabis Legalization Political Action Committee held a march in Phoenix on Saturday, joining groups around the country as part of the Million Marijuana March.

The Arizona group's mission: to legalize, decriminalize and repeal prohibition of cannabis in Arizona for recreational use for those age 21 and older.

"In our view, it's unjust, immoral and unethical that anybody goes to prison for a plant," said Alex Gentry, chairman of the Safer Arizona Cannabis Legalization Political Action Committee.

The committee has filed paperwork with the Arizona Secretary of State's Office to begin collecting signatures to get on the November 2018 ballot. It would need to collect 156,042 signatures from valid Arizona voters by July 5, 2018, to qualify.

The Safer Arizona Legalization Act proposes to legalize "the possession, consumption, cultivation and sales of cannabis for adults" at least 21 years old, decriminalize cannabis-related offenses and replace prison sentences with fines and misdemeanors.

it also proposes a tax on cannabis that would go toward education.

If it passes, the act would also provide "post-conviction relief" for those with prior offenses related to marijuana. Patricia Pantel, with Safer Arizona, said that is a key characteristic of the proposal.

"Nobody should go to jail for this plant," she said. "This plant has so many uses and it helps so many people."

Arizona voters in 2016 narrowly voted down a similar proposal to legalize recreational marijuana. The proposal was strongly opposed by state public-safety and business leaders.

Seth Leibsohn, chairman for Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy, and Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk wrote in a letter to The Arizona Republic prior to that election that the proposal would significantly increase Arizona's drug-treatment costs, lead to more traffic fatalities and workplace accidents and harm "young brains."

"This law would contribute nothing positive to Arizona. Instead it exacts a tremendous cost, all to benefit a handful of marijuana-industry insiders. Arizonans do not need this and will not be able to afford it. The price is too high," they wrote.