Group submits ballot initiative to legalize marijuana in Arizona

PHOENIX - A group backing the legalization of marijuana for recreational use is one step closer to letting voters decide.

Smart and Safe Arizona filed its petition on July 1 to get the initiative on the November ballot. The group says it has more than 400,000 signatures on its petition.

"We've dropped off our petitions to legalize adult-use marijuana here in the state of Arizona," said Chad Campbell.

Since September, the group hit the streets collecting signatures from across the state, trying to legalize recreational marijuana.

"As the name says, smart and safe. It's put together in a responsible way to sell this product to adults only and it will generate revenue, much needed revenue, for the state which is a win for everybody," Campbell said.

The group turned in all of the signatures to the secretary of state's office who will sort and count them. Once approved, they could be on the November ballot for voters to decide.

"420,000 signatures, we only needed 238,000 so we are pretty confident there," Campbell said.

In Arizona, voters legalized the use of medical marijuana in 2010, but several efforts to legalize the recreational use of marijuana have failed.