In 36 states, Americans will be voting to choose their next governor on Election Day — Tuesday, November 8. In many races, there is a big contrast between the candidates’ stance on marijuana laws.
Governors have a tremendous impact on cannabis policies in their states, including signing or vetoing bills, pardoning past convictions, and overseeing agencies that can implement, expand, or obstruct existing cannabis laws.
The Marijuana Policy Project’s Election Guide reveals where major party gubernatorial candidates stand on cannabis policy reforms. In Arizona, there is a stark contrast between candidates Katie Hobbs and Kari Lake.
Arizona Candidates 2022
Katie Hobbs (D) — As a state senator, Hobbs co-sponsored bills to reduce medical cannabis application fees for veterans (SB 1300, 2018) and to allow medical cannabis research at universities (SB 1443, 2013).
Kari Lake (R) — As a TV news anchor in 2018, Lake was taken off air for a week after falsely claiming the RedForEd movement to increase public school funding and teachers’ pay was secretly a push for legalization. Her tweets suggested she opposed legalization, “They [sic] raise is highly deserve [sic]. But surely there are ways to pay for it other than legalizing pot.”
Arizona legalized cannabis for medical use in 2010 and for recreational use in 2020. It is legal for Arizona medical marijuana patients and anyone 21 or older to buy cannabis products from Arizona dispensaries.
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