Marijuana campaign tactic: Buy American, not Mexican

'Buy American' is a phrase you may start hearing in Arizona as the group Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol plans to reveal a billboard this week to help promote their marijuana initiative, The billboard will read, "Buy American and Support Schools, Not Cartels," as the group pushes to legalize recreational marijuana in Arizona and allow the tax revenue to support local schools. The initiative, if passed, would enact a 15% tax on marijuana sales, bringing in an estimated $113 million to the state for education, full day kindergarten, and public health. The group has yet to turn in the required 150,642 signatures it needs to make this November's ballot, but they're expected to be turned in soon. If passed, adults over 21 in Arizona would be able to purchase and possess up to 1 ounce, and grow up to 6 plants at home without a license. It would also create a Department of Marijuana Licenses which would be in charge of regulating the entire program. 

Arizona could see as much as $113 million in new tax revenue if it legalized marijuana for recreational use and imposed a 15 percent levy on the drug, according to a recent study by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation.

Under the proposed Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act, adults 21 and older could possess up to 1 ounce of marijuana and grow up to six plants in their homes without obtaining licenses, as long as the plants are in a secure area. The initiative also would create a Department of Marijuana Licenses and Control to regulate the "cultivation, manufacturing, testing, transportation and sale of marijuana."

 “If Arizona regulates marijuana,” the billboard says, “adults could buy American,” instead of buying marijuana that has been illegally smuggled across the Mexican border into Arizona. The billboard also points out taxes collected from marijuana sales would "support schools, not cartels."