Pubdate: Thu, 11 Jun 2015
Source: Tucson Weekly (AZ)
Copyright: 2015 Tucson Weekly
Contact:  http://www.tucsonweekly.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/462
Author: Dan Kingston

POLL GROW

53 Percent of Arizonans Support Legalization

According to a recently released poll, a majority of Arizonans 
support the legalization of marijuana.

The Behavior Research Center's latest Rocky Mountain Poll found that 
53 percent of Arizonans support making possession of a small amount 
of marijuana legal for personal use, while 39 percent opposed.

Support was strong in all three geographical areas surveyed by the 
poll: 53 to 38 in Maricopa County; 47 to 43 in Pima County; and 58 to 
38 in rural Arizona.

"Arizonans are fed up with the failed policy of marijuana 
prohibition," said a member of the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana 
Like Alcohol, which is supporting a statewide ballot initiative to 
end marijuana prohibition in Arizona and replace it with a system in 
which marijuana is regulated and taxed similarly to alcohol.

"They do not think adults should be punished just for consuming a 
substance that is objectively less harmful than alcohol. It's time 
for a more sensible approach, and that's what our initiative 
proposes. The poll reflects what we're finding out on the street 
while collecting signatures. We're finding that most voters agree 
it's time for a more sensible marijuana policy in Arizona. Even those 
folks who are still on the fence seem to agree that our current 
prohibition laws aren't working."

The campaign has collected more than 15,000 signatures since 
launching its petition drive a month ago. It must gather more than 
150,000 valid signatures of registered Arizona voters to qualify the 
initiative for the November 2016 ballot.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom