Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers is Phoenix this week encouraging Arizonians to vote down the legalization of recreational marijuana on their November ballots.
Suthers, a Republican and the former attorney general of Colorado, said Coloradans support legal marijuana because they are "uninformed," according to the Arizona Daily Sun.
According to the newspaper, the mayor is citing statistics that indicate teen use of cannabis and criminal activity went up after medical marijuana was legalized in 2006 -- but not after the legalization of recreational marijuana in 2012. Suthers is also reportedly saying there is less support for legal marijuana in Colorado today than when voters passed Amendment 64 in 2016.
The latter claim flies in the face of a poll released this week by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling showing that most Coloradans wouldn't repeal the Amendment 64.
Suthers' claims about teen use of marijuana and crime are in line with a recent report from a group aimed at uniting state, federal and local law enforcement agencies in the fight against drug trafficking.
Some have accused the report from the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Trafficking Area of being slanted toward anti-legalization. Other state data, including marijuana use among teens is stagnant, contradicts findings in the report.
