By Kiera Riley | Phoenix New Times
And then there were two.
That’s how many marijuana bills have survived the 2022 legislative session.
One bill would allocate funds from the Smart and Safe Arizona Fund to tribal police and fire departments, university police and the Arizona Department of Public Safety. The other, a strike-everything amendment mirroring a failed senate bill, poses major changes to Arizona’s marijuana licensing process.
All marijuana bills introduced in 2022 bring the legislatures’ developing relationship with the cannabis business into focus. But continuing debate on changes to licensing show the legislative moves in Arizona’s marijuana market continue to remain internal and hotly contested.
Bills looking to heighten regulation and decrease sentencing largely failed early in on the process, with many failing to grab a committee assignment or see a vote. The bills that did gain traction often saw mixed opinion from those within the broader cannabis industry.
