Debate over an initiative to legalize recreational marijuana use in Arizona is already proving contentious. Prop 205 would legalize recreational marijuana use and establish rules for its sale.
Legal action failed to stop it from reaching the ballot last week and a recent forum on the initiative in Phoenix reportedly descended into a shouting match.
One of the loudest critics of the initiative is Yavapai County Attorney, Sheila Polk. She chairs the group Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy.
Polk was in Yuma this week for a forum on Prop 205. She tells KAWC’s Lou Gum that her decades of experience in Arizona courts has shown her that marijuana use leads to criminal activity that goes well beyond possession of the drug, but she’s worried most about what legalized marijuana would mean for Arizona’s kids…
For more from Sheila Polk, here is the unedited interview. The raw file includes Polk's comments on out-of-state money she says funds Prop. 205, her concerns over impacts on drug-free workplace policies and comments on the liklihood of passage of Prop 205.