PHOENIX (AP) – Legal sales of recreational marijuana began in Arizona on Friday, an unthinkable step toward the former Conservative stronghold that joins 14 other states that have legalized the pot.
The state Department of Health Services announced Friday that it had approved 86 licenses in nine of the state’s 15 counties under the provisions of the marijuana legalization measure passed by voters in November. Most of the licenses went to existing medical marijuana dispensaries that can start selling pot right away.
“It’s an exciting step for those who want to participate in this program,” Dr. Cara Christ, Arizona’s state health director, said Friday.
Under the terms of Proposition 207, people 21 and older can grow their own plants and legally own up to an ounce (28 grams) of marijuana or a smaller amount of “concentrates” like hashish. Possession of between 1 ounce and 2.5 ounces (70 grams) is a misdemeanor that carries a maximum fine of $ 300.
The march towards decriminalization in the state of the solar belt was long. The approval of the legalization measure came four years after Arizona voters narrowly defeated a similar proposal, even though medical marijuana has been legal in the state since 2010.
The initiative faced stiff opposition from Republican Gov. Doug Ducey and Republican Party leaders in the state legislature, but 60% of state voters in the November election approved it.
The marijuana vote reflected larger trends during the historic election that saw Democrat Joe Biden turn the long Republican state upside down where political giants include five-term Conservative Sen. Barry Goldwater and late Republican Sen. John McCain.
Demographic changes, including a fast-growing Latino population and a flood of new residents, have made the state kinder to Democrats.
The recreational pot measure was backed by proponents of the legal marijuana industry and advocates of criminal justice reform who argued that the state’s harsh marijuana laws were outdated with the nation. Arizona was the only state in the country that still allowed the prosecution of a felony for first-time possession of small amounts of marijuana, although most cases were prosecuted as misdemeanors.
The vast majority of licenses issued on Friday were in Maricopa County, the largest county in the state that hosts Phoenix and its suburbs. Other counties with dispensaries that can now sell recreational pots are the counties of Cochise, Coconino, Gila, Pima, Pinal, Yavapai and Yuma.
Voters in New Jersey, South Dakota and Montana also approved the legalization of recreational marijuana possession last November.
Arizona prosecutors withdrew thousands of cases of marijuana possession after the measure was approved. State possession became technically legal when election results were certified on Nov. 30, but there was no authorized way to buy it without a medical marijuana card.
In November, voters again gave Republicans control of state power levers when they passed a new tax on high-income people to increase funding for education, a move that came later. of years of GOP tax cuts and underfunding of public schools.