If voters approve Proposition 207 on the 2020 General election ballot, state law would change to allow adults age 21 and over to possess up to an ounce of marijuana and grow up to six marijuana plants for non-commercial use. The state would also be required to issue a regu­lated number of licenses for businesses to grow and sell marijuana to customers 21 and over.

Prop 207 has been polling well. One of the most recent polls, released by Monmouth University on Sept. 17, found 51% of registered Arizona voters in favor and 41% opposed.

While the Arizona Department of Health Services would be respon­sible for hammering out many of the details of implementing legalization, the law carves out power for city and town councils and county boards of super­visors to make rules in their jurisdictions.

The rule-making authority granted to cities and counties may be significant enough to put marijuana on the agendas of many local governments next year if Prop 207 passes.

Some of the most signifi­cant powers Prop 207 grants cities and counties are:

■ The power to ban or limit adult-use businesses, except for existing medical dispensaries, which would have the right to add adult use sales to existing locations

■ Regulate the “time, place and manner” of marijuana establishment operations

■ Prohibit or restrict deliveries of marijuana within jurisdictions

■ Enact “reasonable” zoning regulations limiting where marijuana establish­ments can operate

■ Set “reasonable” rules on signage for marijuana establishments — though neither the state nor locali­ties could ban advertising under the proposition’s rules

Stacy Pearson, a spokes­woman for the Smart & Safe Arizona campaign, said last year that the campaign added more local controls to the initiative after learning from the experience of states that have previously legalized marijuana.

Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk, an opponent of Prop 207 who has unsuc­cessfully sued several times to keep previous measures off the ballot, noted in a statement this summer that the initiative’s provision guaranteeing medical dispensaries the option of obtaining a dual medical/adult-use license limited local governments’ control.

“If communities already have medical marijuana businesses, and most do, they will not be able to ban recreational sales under this act,” Polk wrote.

In the Verde Valley, Cottonwood and Sedona currently have medical marijuana dispensaries.

Three other states — Montana, South Dakota and New Jersey — also have adult-use marijuana initia­tives on their 2020 ballots. Eleven states have legal­ized recreational marijuana, eight by ballot questions and two by legislature.