Arizona voters have approved a ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana.
Proposition 207 will allow adults 21 and older to posses up to an ounce of marijuana and grow a limited number of plants. The Arizona Department of Health Services will regulate cannabis in the state and impose a 16% excise tax on sales.
“At a time when we’re in the throes of a global pandemic where tax revenues aren’t what people projected they would be, to have this additional boost is going to be very helpful for Arizona,” says Steve White, CEO of the Arizona dispensary company Harvest Health and Recreation.
Revenue from cannabis sales will benefit Arizona’s community colleges, police and sheriff’s departments, state highways, and a criminal justice initiative.
Arizona voters in 2016 narrowly defeated a similar measure. Possession becomes legal when the election results are certified in about a month and sales should begin sometime next spring.
Voters in New Jersey, South Dakota and Montana also overwhelmingly approved recreational marijuana Tuesday. Cannabis, however, remains illegal under federal law.
