Arizona and Nebraska should also vote to legalize cannabis

Pro-legalization campaigners in Arizona and Nebraska have submitted enough signatures to qualify their initiatives, for adult and medical use respectively, for the upcoming November ballot. The signatures must now be verified by the respective Secretariats of State.

Smart and Safe Arizona

In the Grand Canyon State, supporters of the Smart and Safe Arizona Act planned to submit over 400,000 signatures to the Secretary of State's office, far more than the 238,000 needed to qualify the measure for this fall's ballot. If passed, the measure would legalize cannabis for adults and create a legal framework to regulate and tax commercial cannabis production and sales.

Stacy Pearson, spokesperson for the Smart and Safe Arizona campaign, told local media last week that the group was excited about its prospects for success.

«Our signature collection went very well,» explains declared Pearson. «We are confident that the initiative will be eligible.»

In a recent survey, 65% of Arizonans said they would probably or definitely vote in favor of the measure. The medical use of cannabis was legalized in Arizona in 2010.

Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana

Nebraska is one of 11 U.S. states without any form of legal medical cannabis. The association Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana had to collect at least 121,000 signatures while meeting a minimum threshold of 5% in at least 38 of the state's 93 counties. Last Thursday, it submitted 182,000 signatures.

«We are proud to have succeeded in gathering tens of thousands of petition signatures to let Nebraska vote on the legalization of medical cannabis,» said declared Michael J. O'Hara, spokesman for ADOPT, a coalition of associations in favor of medical cannabis. «Despite the great obstacles of the COVID-19 pandemic, social remoteness, civil unrest and curfews, our petition teams did an excellent job. Clearly, Nebraskans want to vote on this important health issue.»