To stream 12News on your phone, you need the 12News app.
Next up in 5
Example video title will go here for this video
Next up in 5
Example video title will go here for this video
PHOENIX — An Arizona lawmaker doesn’t want to smell his neighbor’s marijuana inside his own home.
“It has been a bit of a problem in my neighborhood to the point where my kids have to come inside,” Republican Sen. J.D. Mesnard said. “I don’t even want to have the drug conversation with my 4-year-old who can smell it.”
Arizona voters legalized recreational marijuana in 2020, allowing people to smoke in their own homes and backyards.
Mesnard proposed legislation that aims to punish smokers responsible for emitting excessive amounts of marijuana odor or smoke.
“It’s basically saying what you do in your private property is your business, but the moment there is such a strong odor or smoke that’s affecting your neighbors and down the street, then it is no longer just your business,” Mesnard said.
Anyone who smells the odor of marijuana wafting from a neighboring property into their own would call the police and the offender would be cited for criminal nuisance, a misdemeanor.
Opponents of the bill argue voters already shot this down five years ago.
“Back when Prop 207 was passed, part of what Arizona voters agreed upon was you can’t use the odor of burnt marijuana as probable cause for any crime anymore,” Norml State Director Julie Gunnigle said.
Gunnigle said the wording of the bill is imprecise and opens the door for wrongful accusations.
“How do you quantify smell at all? How do you preserve smell? How do you prove your innocence in a case like this,” Gunnigle said.
Mesnard introduced two identical pieces of legislation. One would go to the governor’s desk and the other would let voters decide in November.