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.
