If the Marijuana Policy Project’s initiative to legalize weed in Arizona lands on the ballot and passes next year, the state’s education system could see a revenue of more than $40 million annually once the regulations are implemented, a press release from MPP says.

Smoke a joint and help Arizona’s school kids.

The campaign’s chairman, J.P. Holyoak, called the $40 million figure “very conservative”, in a news conference, according to the Republic. The state’s distribution system would look like Colorado’s, where licensed businesses produce and sell the drug, with taxes going toward education and public health.

The Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry also opposes marijuana legalization. The group’s leader says the state has the potential to put close to that amount of money directly into school funds within a year if it decriminalizes and taxes marijuana use.

Lisa Olson, a teacher for the New School for the Arts and Academics in Tempe, mother of five, and authorized medical-marijuana user, said she’s watched the “degradation” of Arizona schools because of poor funding in her 25-year career.

Under the proposed legislation, adults 21 years old or older could possess up to 1 ounce of marijuana and grow up to six plants in their homes without a license.

Another local teacher, Elise Ashe, described herself as Republican, Christian, and also a medical-marijuana patient. Organizers stated they’ve collected 60,000 signatures.

“We need every dollar we can get for education to keep our class sizes small, to help maintain our buildings, and to make sure children have safe buses to ride”, she said. The marketing campaign estimated that tax cash might increase $40 million for schooling yearly, a a lot wanted injection of funding for Arizona faculties, backers of the plan stated. Martin Quezada, who is a state lawmaker and member of the Pendergast Elementary School District Governing Board.

Legislation to legalize marijuana has already passed in four states – Washington, Colorado, Oregon and Alaska – as well as Washington, D.C. The Arizona campaign needs 150,000 signatures to qualify for the November 2016 ballot. “Why are we criminalizing someone’s consumption of marijuana when we know it’s safer than alcohol?”