PHOENIX — Arizona lawmakers are looking to capitalize on cannabis as the marijuana industry continues to grow.
House Bill 2770 would allow marijuana to be sold across state lines, but the bill is contingent on the federal legalization of cannabis.
“What this measure is trying to do is trying to get Arizona to that point to where they can be at the start line so that when the feds wave the flag they can start competing and start selling immediately across state lines,” said Arizona Rep. Justin Wilmeth, who chairs the House Commerce Committee and sponsored the bill.
Oregon, Washington and California already have similar laws in place that are also dependent on marijuana being legalized at the federal law. Rep. Wilmeth said this bill is important to make sure Arizona stays competitive with the other states.
“So when the feds eventually, and the experts say within the next 3-5 years for sure, we will be able to have our business be able to compete immediately when this happens,” Rep. Wilmeth said.
Raul Molina, who owns The Mint Cannabis dispensary, said this would help stabilize an industry that has a lot of price fluctuations depending on the market.
“You have states like in Arizona, where it’s a fairly low price, and then you have states that are newer into the market that haven't developed their cultivation industry yet and they are much, much higher, at least two to three times the amount of price that we're paying in Arizona for wholesale flower,” Molina said. “So, I think it'll stabilize the market.”
Molina said allowing for interstate commerce could also turn Arizona into a manufacturing hub for cannabis.
“I think a lot of the states that are up north, where there's major cold spells, [they] won't be growing much. I think it'll turn into more of a southeast, southwest kind of scenario for growing,” he told ABC15, but added that it could also force the smaller companies out of business as more money and bigger companies enter the industry.
Arizona Marijuana Industry Trade Association founder Demitri Downing praised the move from lawmakers and underscored the need to make Arizona a production rather than consumption state.
“Turning Arizona into a production state, rather than just a consumption state is a wise and intelligent outlook on what's best for the state of Arizona jobs, economic development, taxes and all the associated benefits of being able to produce and export something out of the state of Arizona,” Downing said.
The bill is expected to head to a vote in the coming weeks.
