Homeless in Arizona

Myself I stopped supporting Kathy Inman maybe 6 or 7 years ago when her Phoenix NORML group supported a medical marijuana campaign and refused to support Dennis and Rain's effort to actually legalize marijuana.

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Marijuana-legalization ad plugs money for Arizona schools

Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, The Republic | azcentral.com 3:31 p.m. MST September 22, 2016

The ad features a teacher and two parents who said Thursday they support marijuana legalization because the state's education system desperately needs increased funding. The campaign staged a news conference outside of a Tempe charter school, where one of the supporters teaches.

The ad will air on Facebook, Instagram and other digital platforms, said Barrett Marson, spokesman for the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol. The campaign is spending "six figures" on the ad, Marson said. He said it could also appear on TV.

Proposition 205 would legalize marijuana for recreational use for adults 21 years and older. It would allow them to carry and use up to one ounce at a time, and grow it in their homes. The measure would allow retail sale of the drug and a new state department would regulate marijuana cultivation, sales and other retail activity. Sales would be taxed at 15 percent and proceeds would fund the new department, substance abuse programs, school operations and all-day kindergarten.

Adam Deguire, manager of the anti-legalization campaign, ripped the ad. In an emailed statement, Deguire said Prop. 205 would benefit the marijuana industry over schools.

"The voters in Colorado were sold the same bag of tricks to legalize recreational marijuana," Deguire wrote. He referenced complaints by some Colorado education officials who have said their marijuana-related revenues haven't met expectations.

Deguire invoked the sentiment from a Denver school superintendent who recently said, “The only thing that the legalization of marijuana has brought to our schools has been marijuana.”

The Arizona Joint Budget Legislative Committee estimates taxes and licensing fees would generate $53.4 million in fiscal year 2019 and $82 million in fiscal year 2020. Of that, $30.4 million would go to education in fiscal year 2019, while $55.6 million would help pay for education in fiscal year 2020.

The ad opens with upbeat music and an intro by Kathy Inman, executive director of MomForce AZ, which supports legalization. Inman is also a grandmother.

"Raising money for our schools isn't the only reason to regulate and tax marijuana but it's a good reason," Inman says in the ad.

Parisa Rad, whose daughter who uses marijuana for medical purposes, then speaks: "Being a mother of a special needs child, I know that there's financial deficiencies in our schools."

Lisa Olson, a teacher and multiple sclerosis patient who appears to be in a classroom, says: "Schools need every dollar they can get."

At a Thursday news conference, Olson said voters should seriously consider the amount of money marijuana legalization would provide schools. She pointed out that Arizona school funding ranks low nationally, and that state leaders have not laid out a plan to boost funding, despite promises.

In May, voters approved Prop. 123 to boost funding by $3.5 billion over the next decade, but state leaders are weighing additional funding options.

"Prop. 123 passed in the spring with absolutely no second step in mind. We have still not been given a second step," Olson said. "But Prop 205 offers a piece that what could be a critical part of that second step in terms of funding education."

A spokesman for the campaign opposing marijuana legalization was reviewing the ad before commenting.

Follow the reporter on Twitter and Facebook. Reach her at yvonne.wingett@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4712.