Anti-Cannabis Initiative in Arizona Accepts $10,000 Donation from Alcohol Company

[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]C[/dropcap]annabis advocates in Arizona are outraged by the hypocrisy of a certain group of cannabis prohibitionists working to get an initiative on the November ballot, Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy (ARDP). According to the news site, ATTN, the ARDP has previously stated that it supported cannabis prohibition for the sake of children’s safety. However, cannabis advocates from the Campaign to Regulate Cannabis Like Alcohol (CRMLA) accuse the ARDP of false claims, as it has just received a $10,000 donation from an alcohol company, The Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of Arizona (WSWA).

The CRMLA believes that it is senseless for the ARDP to be supported by a company that produces a substance that is far more harmful to children than cannabis. “They want to continue punishing adults for using marijuana, but they have no problem accepting five-figure donations from purveyors of a far more harmful substance,” said CRMLA spokeswoman J.P. Holyoak. According to Phoenix New Times, the mortality rate for children who encounter alcohol is in the thousands each year, for cannabis, that number is zero. This donation comes at a time though when the ARDP is desperate to get its measure on the November ballot. Unlike the CRMLA, which has been able to raise nearly $1 million with the support of local collectives and the National Marijuana Policy Project, the ARDP has only been able to gather a little over $90,000.

Although the WSWA’s contribution seems like a way for the alcohol industry to avoid getting its revenue cut with the legalization of cannabis, the ARDP claims that the WSWA is supporting its anti-legalization efforts because it believes that legal cannabis will actually encourage people to drink more, and endanger themselves. The Phoenix News Times reports that alcohol companies have long been supporting cannabis prohibition in fear of it becoming a bigger consumer market. Daniel Rees, an economics professor at the University of Colorado in Denver shared that studies have shown that people typically choose to substitute alcohol with cannabis rather than using both. Either way, Arizonians should not be too concerned about the anti-cannabis movement and should work together to make sure that the plant is legally regulated.