Arizona Marijuana Initiative 2016 has new billboard

Backers of an initiative to make recreational use of marijuana legal have put up a billboard satirizing the 1930s movie “Reefer Madness.”

Drivers traveling on 7th and Van Buren Streets will see the sign with big yellow letters spelling out marijuana. Carlos Alfaro with the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol in Arizona said the billboard is a take off of the famous movie.

“It says, ‘Marijuana- less addictive, less harmful than alcohol.’ It has a face of a screaming girl,” said Alfaro.

Alfaro said opponents of the initiative will do everything they can over the next 12 months to scare Arizonans into
keeping marijuana illegal for adults, just like what was done in the 1920s.

“So we’re saying that is just as ridiculous as what we’re doing today with marijuana. Marijuana is subjectively less harmful, less addictive,” Alfaro said. “It doesn’t lead to violent behavior.”

He said his group has a third of the 230,000 signatures needed to get the measure on the 2016 ballot.