Public policy roundtable discusses marijuana legalization in Arizona

By Jayson Chesler and Anne M. Shearer
@News21

PHOENIX – With recreational legalization looming as a potential 2016 ballot item, representatives from law enforcement, the marijuana industry and public health on Thursday debated the potential benefits and consequences of legalizing marijuana in Arizona at a roundtable hosted by Arizona State University’s Morrison Institute for Public Policy.

Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk, Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Chairman J.P. Holyoak and former Arizona Health Director Will Humble sparred over data, research and speculation as to what marijuana legalization would mean for the state.

Holyoak’s campaign is one of two collecting signatures for separate 2016 ballot initiatives to legalize recreational marijuana.
The event’s intended focus was public policy, with the speakers’ remarks often centered on child safety, the science of marijuana and the effect legalization would have on marijuana in Arizona.

With strong opinions both favoring and opposing legalization from Holyoak and Polk respectively, the two speakers debated vehemently.

Polk called Colorado’s experiment with legalization a “disaster” while Holyoak referred to some of Polk’s anti-drug stances as “reefer madness.”
Below are key points made by the speakers:

Child safety:
Polk: “Nobody argues with the fact that one in six of our kids who uses marijuana becomes addicted. Nobody contests the fact that Colorado youth use rates are skyrocketing, 38 percent higher than the national average. Nobody contests the fact that many more kids in Colorado are regular users.”

Holyoak: “We don’t want teenagers using marijuana. Nobody says that’s OK. I don’t say that’s OK, either. But what’s a better way to keep marijuana away from children? Drug dealers who have every incentive in the world to sell to children like they do today? Or putting marijuana in the hands of taxed, regulated, responsible businesses that have every incentive to keep marijuana away from children?”

Humble: “The use patterns of high school students in Colorado have been flat. It’s also true that the use in Colorado is substantially higher than the average around the country. … What’s important for folks … as they think about how they’re going to vote on this important public policy matter, assuming it’s on the ballot, is old-fashioned self inquiry.”

Scientific advances:
Polk: “There are more than 100 research projects going on right now, with marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug. … I support research on marijuana. Clearly, there are therapeutic benefits to it. … If you want to be able to safely use a particular substance, what you do is you test it, you synthesize, you pull out the cannabidiol, for example, from the marijuana plant.”
Holyoak: “I can isolate CBD (cannabidiol) and I can isolate THC, but it is the full spectrum of those cannabinoids that are the true benefit. And what I’m saying when I say the ‘full spectrum:’ It is the whole plant that has a benefit.”

Humble: “I think, to a large extent, the federal government has shot themselves in the foot on this because, had they been objective about the data, they would have moved it to Schedule 2 or 3 by now. And if that had happened, the research could have proceeded more easily. I’m not saying it can’t be done on the other schedules, but it’s far easier to do the research. And I believe that the federal government as a result would see far fewer states that have medical marijuana laws in place.”

Legalization’s effect:
Polk: “We know what legal marijuana looks like because we know what it looks like in Colorado. … The gloves are off in Colorado, the race in on to make more and more potent and addictive products because that’s what consumers are consuming and that’s where you’re going to make the money.”

Holyoak: “The question is not whether marijuana is good or marijuana is bad because the fact is that marijuana exists, and it’s out there. The question is really do we prefer to have taxed and regulated businesses that are selling the marijuana for the benefit of public education and health care, or do we prefer to keep marijuana illegal for the enrichment of criminal drug cartels?”
Humble: “It’s important for us to look at all of these substances and figure out how as a society – and how as a community – we want to manage those risks.”

Jayson Chesler is a News21 Reynolds Fellow. Follow him on Twitter @JayChesler. Anne M. Shearer is a News21 Ethics and Excellence Fellow. Follow her on Twitter @AnneMShearer.