Recreational marijuana makes it on the November ballot in Arizona

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Arizona voters will see recreational marijuana on the ballot in November. Enough signatures were submitted by Smart and Safe Arizona, a citizens initiative to legalize cannabis for adult use in the state.

So the question is, what happens if proposition 207 is passed on November 3?

There is a list of conditions that come along with a yes vote.

The Arizona Department of Health Services would have complete control over the safe sale of marijuana, including testing and inspecting products.

Dispensaries in the desert southwest, in the nearby Imperial County, have already been through the process of being able to sell recreational marijuana.

Spencer Andrews is the public affairs director for March and Ash dispensary.

"It was all put under one framework so medical and recreational and it really left it open to the local jurisdictions as to whether they decided they wanted to be recreational or medicinal," Andrews said.

According to exclusive projections from the 2020 edition of the marijuana business factbook, retail sales of medical and recreational cannabis in the united states are on pace to eclipse 15 billion dollars by the end of 2020, an increase of approximately 40% over 2019 sales figures.

“From what we understand and from what we understand our customers, they prefer recreational.”

“It's a lower barrier to entry, and they don't have to sign up with anything, a lot of the players that are coming, that are, that might be skeptical of signing up their name to a list, not wanting for fear of, you know, perhaps maybe losing their job or if they have some sort of privilege that they might feel like they lose if they're on a medical cannabis list,” Andrews added.

Another stipulation if passed, generating an upwards of 300 million dollars annually in new revenue. That money would be dedicated to community colleges, public safety, public health programs, and roads and highways.

Prop 207 would also give the state and local health departments millions of dollars annually for addiction prevention and other treatment programs.

“I’d imagine there's a lot of lessons to be learned from looking at states like California and Colorado and Oregon and Washington who kind of paved the way with recreational cannabis and take,” Andrews explained.

We’ve reached out to city and county officials about how they feel about the potential tax revenue, but they have declined to comment where they stand at this time.