Come November, Arizona voters may have two opportunities to legalize the recreational use of marijuana — but as substance-abuse-reduction advocate and MATForce Executive Director Marilee Fowler revealed in a presentation, there is vocal opposition to either ballot initiatives.

Ostensibly an unbiased presentation including arguments for and against legalizing marijuana, Fowler outlined few arguments in support of the proposed change to Arizona statute, instead spending the bulk of her address outlining her view that the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol ballot initiative gives preference to medical marijuana dispensary owners and will result in “an uptick” in lawsuits as well as speaking against its use.

“If kids think something is not harmful, use will go up,” Fowler said during the address sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Greater Verde Valley, May 16, at Yavapai College Verde Valley Campus. Earlier in the day, she had delivered the same address at Yavapai College Sedona Center.

According to Fowler, the danger of normalizing marijuana through increased availability and advertising — the alleged result of not only the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol ballot initiative, but the Legalization and Regulation of Marijuana Act ballot initiative — presents a threat to Arizona’s children.

A survey that uses the first year of marijuana recreational sales in Washington state [2014], published by Washington State Healthy Youth, noted that the amount of high school seniors who said obtaining marijuana would be at least “sort of” easy was flat compared to 2012. An article in the Journal of Adolescent Health also reports flat views on marijuana access though both studies use a limited time frame of legal marijuana sales. Reported use of marijuana has gone up in several studies, but one social factor may be an openness to admit use in the surveys.

“It’s not the same drug as it was during the 1970s,” Fowler said, adding that many varietals of marijuana contain up to 30 percent THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, the main psychoactive constituent found in cannabis. This amount of THC, she said, has contributed to marijuana use-related instances of violent psychosis.

According to a report authored by the Drug Policy Alliance covering violent crime in Colorado since recreational marijuana was legalized, however, there was no direct link to the new market and violent crime. Citing a city of Denver crime report for 2014, the report notes a drop of 2.2 percent in violent crime in the first 11 months over the year vs. the same time frame in 2013. A PLOS One study using similar statistics came to the same conclusion. Published by MSNBC in April 2014, the study suggests there may be a correlation between marijuana legalization and a decrease in violent crime.

Fowler noted that the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol ballot initiative is sponsored by the Marijuana Policy Project — the same national advocacy organization that sponsored the successful bid to legalize medical marijuana in Arizona in 2010. This is not an insignificant fact, according to Fowler, as the wording of the ballot initiative shows “definite advantages to the medical marijuana industry.”

The Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol ballot initiative, if passed by voters, would result in the Department of Health Services being stripped of all authority over marijuana and institute a seven-member commission dedicated to interpreting and dictating the course of the new legislation. Three members of this commission are required to be part of the medical marijuana industry; while the remaining four must have no financial interest in medical marijuana.

Fowler claimed the initiative would result in increased cost to taxpayers, not only in the form of lawsuits but also enforcement.

“We don’t know what it’s going to cost to enforce this,” she said.

One attendee eventually challenged Fowler, accusing her of a one-sided argument.

Fowler admitted that she had come with no material in support of the legalization of recreational marijuana, and claimed not to have encountered any report on the advantages of marijuana usage.

“I think people will self-report that they’re happier, but that’s because they’re impaired,” she said.

Recreational marijuana advocates do, however, have a litany of benefits. They include an increase in an individual’s freedom of choice, a tax boon for communities — usually proposed to be spent on education or another popular government function — and a reduction in crime rates. Advocates also note that drug laws have negatively affected minority communities, particularly African-Americans.

Concerning the disparity between the two ballot intiatives, Fowler reported that there is substantial conflict between the two sponsoring groups, with proponents of the Legalization and Regulation of Marijuana Act claiming that the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol ballot initiative is inherently pro-business, advantaging major growers and corporations more than individual marijuana consumers, as well as failing to guarantee safeguards against arrests for marijuana possessing and production.