Marijuana advocate: Doobies could lead to dollars for schools

PHOENIX — Advocates for recreational marijuana use in Arizona believe legalizing and taxing the drug can help partially fund the state’s education system.

Members of the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol in Arizona said under their proposed ballot initiative, 80 percent of taxes from pot sales would go to the classroom, which is estimated to be around $80 million.

“This seems like a pretty simple, elegant and no-brainer solution to me,” J.P. Holyoak, chairman of the campaign, said.

Holyoak said marijuana is already easily accessible to Arizonans, but the money is ending up in the hands of criminals.

“How about we take this money away from the drug dealers, we stop arresting people consuming something safer than alcohol and we fund our education system all in the same process,” he said.

A group of Arizona teachers are also backing the campaign, arguing that providing school funds through a marijuana tax will impact the lives of all students.

“We need every dollar we can get for education to help keep our class sizes small, to help maintain our buildings, keep our buses safe to drive and to keep our text books supplied,” Lisa Olson, metro-Phoenix area teacher, said.

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