Grassroots AZ cannabis supporters side With prohibitionists

It’s not news that the cannabis community can often split, sometimes viscerally, over differing visions of legalization.

But it can become a problem if it affects plans for legalization.

This might be the case in Arizona, where a grassroots group called Arizonans for Mindful Regulation (AFMR) is taking sides with anti-marijuana forces in an attempt to defeat a legalization initiative backed by the Marijuana Policy Project.

According to the Phoenix New Times, the leadership of the grassroots group is on the record suggesting that MPP’s initiative is “worse than our current prohibition,” and it is urging voters to give it a thumbs down.

Both AFMR and anti-marijuana prohibitionists, according to the New Times, view MPP’s ballot measure as essentially granting a recreational cannabis monopoly to medical dispensaries that are already in business.

The New Times reported that the current ballot measure language supported by MPP is the result of a compromise between the organization and the dispensaries, under which the existing 86 storefronts would get first crack at the 150-160 rec retail licenses the initiative would allow for.

But if AFMR continues on the electoral warpath and cannabis voters are divided, it could mean continued prohibition in Arizona.