Homeless in Arizona

Source

You can view the Safer Arizona initiative at the Arizona Secretary of State's office at this URL:

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

1) The Safer Arizona initiative does not allow people to grow marijuana within 1,000 feet of a school.

Reminds me of 25 mile limit in the MPP or Marijuana Policy Project Prop 203.

Sure the Safer Arizona initiative doesn't suck as bad as Prop 203, but why on earth did they put this in it? This will allow people to get busted if they grow marijuana near a school.

It will also force people to buy their marijuana from a marijuana store, just like the 25 mile rule in Prop 203 forces people to buy their bud from a medical marijuana dispensary.

And when this item is combined with zoning laws used to limit the number of marijuana stores in item 5, it could drive up the price of marijuana considerably.

I suspect this was put in for Demitri Downing. Demetri Downing's family owns something like 6 medical marijuana dispensaries. Demitri Downing also wrote Prop 205 for the folks at MPP or Marijuana Policy Project. When I was involved with Safer Arizona, Demitri Downing asked Safer Arizona to put special perks in the law for his marijuana businesses.

Yea, it's only a misdemeanor if you break the law, but I thought Safer Arizona wanted to legalize marijuana. Not create a jobs program for cops and lawyers giving them petty marijuana crimes to shake people down for.

This law on page 2 of the Safer Arizona initiative - 3-3702 G - Commercial grows, home gardens and cannabis sales [marijuana sales] are not authorized within 1,000 feet of a school

2) You can only legally grow 48 marijuana plants without a license.

Yea, it's only a misdemeanor if you break the law, but I thought Safer Arizona wanted to legalize marijuana.

Since it's a "tax law violation", I am worried that the government could change the penalty for minor tax law violations to a felony to allow the cops to continue raising money by arresting people for victimless marijuana crimes like this.

Sergeant David Stephen Wisniewski says that won't happen, but that reminds me of the BS the folks that wrote Prop 203 gave us. The cops pretty much twisted the law around and are constantly arresting people for felony medical marijuana violations.

Also this law looks a lot like the MPP Prop 205 law which only allows people to grow something like 12 plants.

This law on page 2 of the Safer Arizona initiative - 3-3702 - E.2 - All persons who are at least twenty-one [21] years of age are authorized to cultivate cannabis [marijuana] ... for personal use, provided that the cultivation does not exceed forty-eight [48] cannabis plants in a state of efflorescence/inflorescence. [efflorescence - a big word for plants with flowers, inflorescence - a big word for plants with flowers]

3) You can only sell marijuana with a sales tax license.

It looks like if you grow some pot at home it is illegal for you to sell it to a friend. Or if you just have some extra pot sitting around it's also illegal to sell it to a friend.

Yea, it's only a misdemeanor if you break the law, but I thought Safer Arizona wanted to legalize marijuana. Not create a jobs program for marijuana criminal defense lawyers.

Since it's a "tax law violation", I am worried that the government could change the penalty for minor tax law violations to a felony to allow the cops to continue raising money by arresting people for victimless marijuana crimes like this.

Again Sergeant David Stephen Wisniewski says that won't happen, but that reminds me of the BS the folks that wrote Prop 203 gave us. The cops pretty much twisted the law around and are constantly arresting people for felony medical marijuana violations.

Part of this law is also on page 2 of the Safer Arizona initiative - 3-3702 E.5 - The person cultivating the cannabis [marijuana] shall be permitted to ... transfer such cannabis to other persons ... provided that nothing of value is transferred in return. [i.e. You can give away the marijuana you grow, but you can't sell the marijuana you grow unless you get a sales tax license]

Part of this law on page 3 of the Safer Arizona initiative - 3-3706 B - A person or entity operating a business for income from the resale of cannabis [marijuana] or cannabis products shall obtain a transaction privilege license [sales tax license] and any standard local tax and/or business license

4) You can't grow marijuana that is visible from a public place.

Yea, it's only a misdemeanor if you break the law, but I thought Safer Arizona wanted to legalize marijuana.

Also this is a lot like the MPP Prop 205. I think they had a blurb in it that made it illegal to grow marijuana that was visible to the public.

I suspect the cops will use this law as a lame excuse to get search warrants to enter any homes that are violating this petty law, and look for other criminal violations.

This law on page 2 of the Safer Arizona initiative - 3-3702 H - Cultivation of cannabis [marijuana] from personal grows, home gardens, and commercial grows may not be visible from a public place from ground level without the use of binoculars, infrared imaging, thermal imaging or any other artificial surveillance equipment or other optical aids.

5) City and county governments can pass zoning laws that limit the number of marijuana businesses.

I suspect this will cause severe problems for the Arizona marijuana community, and city and county governments will severely limit the number of businesses that can sell marijuana to the public.

I live in Tempe and the members of the Tempe City Council have passed laws that limit the number of medical marijuana dispensaries to 2 for the entire city of Tempe.

I suspect Tempe and other city and county governments will take bribes from the existing medical marijuana dispensaries and pass laws restricting the number of business that sell marijuana so the medical marijuana dispensaries can continue their monopolies.

I'm sure Demitri Downing will LOVE this law. His family owns something like six medical marijuana dispensaries. I suspect his family will be shoveling lots of money to politicians on city councils and county supervisor boards to limit the amount of competition.

In fact I bet this part of the law was written specially for Demitri Downing.

This law is on page 2 of the Safer Arizona initiative - 3-3705 A - Cities, towns and counties may enact reasonable zoning regulations that limit the land use for commercial grows, home gardens, and businesses engaged in retail sale and wholesale of cannabis [marijuana]

6) You have to be 21 or over to use marijuana.

Yea, it's only a misdemeanor if you break the law, but I thought Safer Arizona wanted to legalize marijuana.

Sergeant David Stephen Wisniewski has complained a number of times that he was arrested in high school for victimless marijuana crimes. It seems hypocritical on his part to allow people who are 18 to 20 to be arrested for victimless marijuana crimes.

This part of the law will also ruin the lives of a lot of kids between 18 and 20 who are busted with pot by giving them a conviction for a drug war crime.

I think having a marijuana conviction will prevent you from getting Food Stamps or SNAP benefits.

And of course many employers refuse to hire people who have been convicted of marijuana crimes.

Why is Safer Arizona giving these kids between 18 and 20 years old the shaft?

This law is on page 3 of the Safer Arizona initiative - 3-3707 - C - No person under the age of twenty-one [21] shall knowingly or lawfully purchase, cultivate, sell, possess or use any cannabis [marijuana] that has more than .3% THC [cannabis, or marijuana has to have more than .3% THC to get you high]

7) People will not be automatically released from prison who have been convicted of victimless marijuana crimes.

Nor will pardons automatically give to people that have been convicted of victimless marijuana crimes.

In the RAD initiative people are automatically released from prison or given an automatic pardon if they were convicted of a victimless marijuana crime, or accepted a plea bargain for a victimless marijuana crime.

The Safer Arizona initiative requires people who have been convicted of marijuana crimes to ask the government for a pardon.

That makes me angry. It should be automatic.

On the other hand if you're a lawyer, you will probably love it and consider it a jobs program for lawyers.

I am not quite sure if people that have accepted plea bargains for victimless marijuana crimes will be given pardons. I think Tom Dean said people that accepted plea bargains for any marijuana crime would be getting pardons. But when I read the law, I don't think it says that.

This is on page 4 of the Safer Arizona initiative - 3-3711 B.1 - Any person who was sentenced ... may file a motion to modify the sentence with the judge, commissioner, justice of the peace or magistrate who pronounced the sentence or imposed probation or such judge, commissioner, justice of the peace or magistrate's successor in office.

...

3-3711 C - The defendant may file a petition to expunge conviction with the judge, justice of the peace or magistrate who pronounced sentence or imposed probation

8) Marijuana must be tested and labeled for potency and other things.

I'm not sure, but depending on how the this part of the law is implemented it could severely drive up the cost of marijuana.

The only time I ever remember people being poisoned by marijuana, was when the DEA was poisoning marijuana users by spraying Mexican marijuana fields with paraquat.

And considering people have been buying illegal untested Mexican marijuana for 75 years without problems, I doubt this part of the law is needed.

If marijuana vendors want to provide this information their product I don't have a problem. But requiring marijuana vendors to provide it sounds very expensive.

This law is on page 3 of the Safe Arizona initiative - 3-3706 I 1-5 - Cannabis products ... intended for wholesale or retail sales shall be prior to sale ... labeled or have signage ... with the following information ... tetrahydrocannabinol, cannabidiol and cannabigerol potency levels ... spore count level ... information regarding trace metals; pesticides; herbicides; fungicides

I wrote the 2016 RAD initiatives and the 2018 RAD initiatives. You can see them at:

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

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

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

http://relegalize.100webspace.net/legalize_heroin_2018.php

I also wrote a lot of the original Safer Arizona initiative. The Safer Arizona initiative was based a lot on the RAD 2016 marijuana initiative.

Since the original version was written by me, David and Alex, a lot of it was watered down by Tom Dean. I think Tom Dean added the 1,000 foot limit and a number of other things which watered down the initiative and made it a lot more like Prop 205. Although it doesn't suck any where near as bad as Prop 205.

I was kicked off of the Safer Arizona Board of Directors by Sergeant David Stephen Wisniewski and I am no long with Safer Arizona.