Drivers in Phoenix may have noticed a new billboard gracing the downtown skyline. It's not the usual car sales and insurance billboards peppered throughout the Valley's roadways, but a campaign advocating the legalization of marijuana in Arizona.
The sign itself is a parody of the movie "Reefer Madness" from the 1930s, and is supposed to raise awareness for a ballot initiative in next year's election.
The group behind the initiative, the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, is seeking a position on the 2016 ballot. The billboard is designed to raise awareness that, the group says, marijuana is less addictive, less toxic, and less harmful than alcohol.
"It's time for us to regulate and treat marijuana for exactly what it is, and that is something that's objectively safer than alcohol," said JP Holyoak, the chairman of the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol.
The group plans on rolling out more billboards throughout the Valley.
"Marijuana is already there, and it's going to be there," Holyoak said. "Are we going to tax and regulate with the money from that going to benefit public education and healthcare, or are we going to keep it illegal for the enrichment of criminal drug cartels?"
Opponents of the initiative worry about the potential public safety risks.
"When you look to Colorado, with an increase in marijuana-impaired driving, and a doubling of marijuana-related traffic fatalities in Washington State, we must question the point of such a message. Alcohol and marijuana are two different substances that affect people differently -- and comparing safety between different dangerous substances is like comparing the dangers between different poisonous snakes." Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy Co-Chair and Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk said in a statement to 12 News.
However, Holyoak echos their concern.
"Nobody that's a part of this campaign says it's okay to drive impaired under any substance, whether it's alcohol, prescription drugs, or marijuana," he said.
In order to get the initiative on the November, 2016 ballot, the group needs just more than 150,000 signatures by July, 2016. According to Holyoak, the group currently has about 100,000 signatures.
