PHOENIX (AP) A voter initiative to legalize recreational marijuana will be on the November ballot after the Arizona Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a final legal challenge to the measure.
A lower court judge had thrown out the challenge, saying the group called Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy didnt have a right to sue.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Jo Lynn Gentrys ruling went on to reject all of the reasons opponents laid out for keeping the initiative off the ballot.
The opponents said initiative backers used illegal and unconstitutional bait-and-switch tactics and that the initiative violates Arizonas statutes in three ways. They include a misleading 100-word summary that leaves out important provisions, an incoherent text and title that obscures the extent of its impact on other laws, and a failure to provide a legal funding mechanism.
The high court sidestepped the right to sue argument, with Chief Justice Scott Bales calling Gentrys reliance on a 2015 rewrite of a law murky at best, and rather than wade into those waters, we turn to the merits.
Bales went on to affirm Gentrys ruling rejecting the merits of the opponents lawsuit, saying the summary substantially complied with the laws requirements for initiatives.
The ruling means that Proposition 205 is on Novembers general election ballot.
Under the measure, adults 21 and older could carry up to one ounce of marijuana and consume it privately. Adults could also cultivate up to six marijuana plants in an enclosed space and possess the marijuana produced by the plants. No more than a dozen plants would be allowed in a single residence.
The system would regulate pot in a way proponents say is similar to alcohol, with a 15 percent tax on all retail marijuana sales. Most of the new state revenue would go to Arizona public schools and education programs.
Barrett Marson, spokesman for the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, said it was a good day for voters who want to end marijuana prohibition in Arizona.
Voters will get the opportunity that they requested more than 258,000 people signed a petition to put this before the voters, Marson said. The Supreme Court agreed voters should have the final say on whether adults should have the right to legally purchase marijuana.
The Secretary of State confirmed that about 177,000 of those signatures were valid, more than the approximately 151,000 need to qualify for the ballot.
Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy, which includes two prominent county attorneys and the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, said they will now turn to urging voters to reject the measure.
Our goal now is to make sure that every Arizonan enters the voting booth in November with a full understanding of both the intended and the unintended impacts of the 20 ...
