Arizona Undeterred by Cannabis Failure; Drafts New Initiative for 2018

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again—Arizona is taking this old proverb to heart.

Just two weeks after the state voted against recreational cannabis, activists in the state are already formulating their cannabis initiative for 2018, in a slightly scaled back form. Arizona was the lone holdout on a night that saw eight other states legalize cannabis for recreational or medical use.

The new proposal is being drafted by medical dispensary owners and is looking to expand on the current list of qualifying conditions that would allow more patients access to medicine. It is also aiming to lower the price of medical cannabis, and allow patients to grow their own plants.

To get the initiative in the ballot in two years, supporters will need to acquire 150,642 signatures by July 5, 2018.

“It would add 20 new debilitating conditions. It would take the state fee from $150 to a $10 application fee. It would change the 25-mile rule that a patient can grow from a dispensary to one mile. It would also make it so that out-of-state patients could obtain medical marijuana from a dispensary,” said Campaign chairman Timothy Cronin to KJZZ.

Medical cannabis was approved in the state in 2010, and afforded patients suffering from cancer, glaucoma, HIV, AIDS, Crohn’s disease and medical conditions that caused seizures or “severe and chronic pain” access to medical cannabis. The state Department of Health Services would later amend the law to include post-traumatic stress disorder.

The new law could potentially add additional qualifying conditions like insomnia, psoriasis, Tourette’s syndrome, neuropathy and fibromyalgia. The law would also add a provision that if you lived more than one mile from a dispensary, you could simply grow your own plants.

This new measure will be harder to oppose than the recently failed Prop 205. By increasing access to medicine instead of full legalization, high profile opponents like Discount Tires owner Bruce Halle and Governor Doug Ducey’s argument that “there is no need for recreational marijuana because those who have a medical need for the drug can get it legally,” is nullified.

This year’s measure failed by about 73,000 votes out of more than 2.5 million cast.