Arizona Effort Underway To Deregulate All Drugs, Legal Or Illicit
A Phoenix man is hoping to make Arizona the first state to effectively repeal all drug laws, including illicit drugs like heroin.
Travis Vanden Brul claims current regulations treat medical marijuana users as criminals and prior attempts to regulate illegal drugs failed at the ballot because they didn't go far enough.
He admits his proposal may be too much for Arizona voters, so he has a second proposal that would eliminate laws governing marijuana and hashish.
He sees no benefit following Colorado's lead legalizing recreational marijuana and taxing the weed.
"Places like Colorado, they still have a booming black market," he said. "Violence has gone down and it's still not completely eliminated because of that."
And, he said, "If you look at the taxation, the taxes are so high that the average person can't afford it."
Vanden Brul's proposals have an uphill battle in a state where voters recently failed to pass attempts at regulating and taxing medical marijuana.
He will need to secure 356,467 valid signatures by early July to qualify for the 2020 ballot.
