The "marijuana industry" or "medical marijuana industry", which is what is really is, wants so legalize recreational marijuana so they can get a second monopoly on selling recreational marijuana in addition to the monopoly they have selling medical marijuana at the rip off $300+ an ounce or $4,800 prices.
At the meeting with Demitri Downing at Tom Dean's office he clearly said a number of times that the medical marijuana industry deserved to have their monopoly continued into recreational marijuana because they invested big bucks to get the monopoly. He didn't use those words, but that was what he more or less said.
Demetri Downing seems to be looking out 100% for the interests of the medical marijuana cartel and zero percent for the interests of the man on the street that uses marijuana.
And of course that includes limiting the number of people that are allowed to sell marijuana. And charging high fees to allow anyone to get into the business of selling marijuana.
I suspect Demitri Downing wants us to write a kinder and gentler version of Prop 205, which gives the medical marijuana dispensaries their monopoly on selling recreational marijuana at the same rip off prices that they currently sell medical marijuana at. A kinder and gentler version that screws marijuana consumers almost as bad as Prop 205 did. And a kinder and gentler monopoly backed by the folks at Safer Arizona. That way people will vote for it.
I want to write an initiative that legalizes marijuana for the PEOPLE. I don't want to write an initiative that legalizes recreational marijuana and for the special interest groups that Demetri Downing represents.
And actually the current initiative as it written, gives the members of the medical marijuana industry the same rights as it gives everybody else.
The only problem with the initiative as it is currently written from Demitri Downing view point is that it doesn't give the currently medical marijuana cartel a monopoly a second monopoly on selling recreational marijuana. Our initiative won't allow the current 85 or so medical marijuana dispensaries to make millions of dollars selling marijuana without any competition like their current monopoly on medical marijuana does.
Demetri Downing also told us that the current medical marijuana industry would do everything they can to defeat our initiative if we didn't write it to give them what they want. Again, he didn't use those exact words. Something the police government is also going to do, to keep their lucrative monopoly on arresting people for victimless marijuana crimes.
We claim that "marijuana is safer than alcohol" and it certainly is. But Demitri Downing seems to want us to treat marijuana like it is a dangerous drug that needs to be regulated like alcohol. Something that it isn't.
And of course as I said before I don't think Demetri Downing wants to protect consumers from the dangerous marijuana drug. Demitri Downing seems to want to protect his buddies in the medical marijuana industry from losing millions of dollars to recreational marijuana sales if we end their monopoly on medical marijuana.
According to this article in the Phoenix Business Journal, Demetri Downing was the co-author of Prop 205 or the initiative for the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol. Here is a quote from that article:
I caught up with Demetri Downing, co-author of the initiative for the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol. Before getting
Q&A: One former Arizona prosecutor supporting marijuana proposition
Sep 14, 2016, 10:04am MST
Angela Gonzales Senior Reporter Phoenix Business Journal
I caught up with Demitri Downing, co-author of the initiative for the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol. Before getting involved in the medical marijuana industry in 2012, Downing was a prosecutor in Southern Arizona, putting drug dealers behind bars.
Demitri Downing helped write the initiative to legalize recreational marijuana in Arizona.
How will recreational marijuana impact existing Arizona medical marijuana dispensaries? The first impact will be a massive change in regulatory structure, which none of the current dispensary owners and operators really wanted but will accept for the fact that there will be a greater number of people purchasing marijuana than before. This obviously means more monies as well as more tax revenue.
How will the 15 percent recreational marijuana tax impact illegal drug dealers? There is no exact model for the “sweet spot” as to when something is taxed too high — it naturally creates a black market. Those of us who were involved in the writing of Prop 205 had to use our best information at hand, and we think 15 percent taxation is a good guess.
How is the medical marijuana industry currently stealing jobs from Mexico? Today, there are in excess of 2,500 Arizonans licensed to work in this industry. More than 300 properties are leased, construction contractors are working, lawyers are engaged, ancillary operations are popping up in the hundreds, just to name a few economic drivers. The economic impact must be in the $400 million range now, with actual industry sales nearing $200 million. With the passage of Prop. 205, Arizona is about to create a billion-dollar industry. I don’t think the illegal domestic or foreign businesses are optimistic about their business trade in the Arizona market.
Angela Gonzales covers health, biotech and education.
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Last the article doesn't mention it but I believe Demitri Downing family is involved in several Arizona medical marijuana dispensaries. So Demitri Downing has a financial interest in keeping keeping the medical marijuana monopolies going, and also giving the medical marijuana cartels a second monopoly on also selling recreational marijuana.