The Trump administration may have recently issued an executive order to ease some cannabis restrictions, but that hasn’t stopped prohibitionists from moving in. This time, the target is Arizona’s recreational market.
Arizona voters approved Proposition 207 back in 2020, legalizing recreational cannabis for adults 21 and older. The first recreational stores opened their doors in 2021. The state had legal retailers slinging pot left and right, leading to a $1.26 billion market valuation by 2023. But here we are just five years after the first sales began, and there’s already an effort to repeal the state’s legal cannabis market.
If all goes according to prohibitionist plans, the Arizona Repeal Marijuana Legalization Initiative will sit on the state’s November, 2026 ballot. The initiative would repeal many of the laws and regulations Proposition 207 created, particularly those centered on legal retail sales. Individuals would still be able to possess and grow cannabis within state limits.
Who would lead such an effort? Meet Sean Noble. He’s president of American Encore, a political strategy firm, and the former chief of staff to former U.S. Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.).
He told Capitol Media Services that he takes issue with unfulfilled promises made when the state began its legal market.
“They said, ‘We’re not going to be marketing to children, we’re not going to be making this easy, we’re not going to be making THC levels super extreme,” said Noble.
For the record, Arizona has plenty of laws around marketing cannabis to children, they just haven’t taken effect yet. Last year, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs signed off on a law adding more restrictions on how cannabis businesses can advertise their products. It includes rules against using images or likenesses of toys, cartoons, or fictional characters. It also prohibits brands from using product names that resemble or imitate food and drink brands marketed toward children. Billboards advertising cannabis can’t sit within 1,000 feet of child care centers, churches, or public parks or playgrounds, among other restrictions.
While approved by Hobbs, the measure won’t take effect until June 30, 2026–just a few days before Noble needs to submit his petition signatures.
To get his initiative on the ballot, Noble will need to submit 255,949 valid signatures by July 2nd. Capitol Media Services notes that the real goal is likely to fall in the 300,000 signatures range, given how many signatures typically get disqualified.
For weed loving Arizonans, Noble may be a familiar name. He helped fund the 2016 opposition campaign against adult-use cannabis in the state. His efforts paid off; voters rejected the proposal with a 51-49 margin before eventually voting yes in 2020.
Financial support for the efforts comes from none other than Smart Approaches to Marijuana–the same group funding efforts to repeal legal cannabis in Maine and Massachusetts.
As with the efforts in Maine and Massachusetts, cannabis advocates aren’t happy.
Morgan Fox, the political director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), said “Prohibitionists failed to make the case for continuing to criminalize cannabis consumers in Arizona and other states where voters had a choice in the matter. Now they are trying to mislead voters into thinking that recriminalizing responsible behaviors and pushing consumers back to the underground market will somehow improve public health and safety…It’s shameful, disrespectful to voters and woefully misguided.”
We’re keeping a close eye on Arizona, Massachusetts, Maine, and any other states that might join these repeal efforts.
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