Arizona Cartel Terrorism Measure Goes Before Voters in November

Published: 09/9/2026 | Author: Courtney Myers

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Arizona voters will decide in November whether state law should call a drug cartel an organization that conducts terrorism. Even though The Grand Canyon State features a wide range of programs to assist locals, ranging from inpatient care to local Narcotics Anonymous chapters, the risk of opioid addiction remains great.

However, the law in question, Proposition 317, has drawn support and opposition on grounds well beyond addiction policy. 

Proposition 317

The measure would declare drug cartels along the southern border as equivalent to terrorist organizations under Arizona law. It would direct the Arizona Department of Homeland Security to do everything within its authority to address the threat posed by drug cartels.

It defines a drug cartel as an “ongoing formal or informal association of persons” whose members take part in human smuggling, drug trafficking for profit or terrorism.

Arizona House Speaker Steve Montenegro has pursued the policy across several legislative sessions. Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed an earlier version in 2023. The Republican-controlled legislature voted to refer the question to voters in 2025 after the federal government designated certain cartels as terrorist organizations at the national level.

Montenegro has described the measure as a tool for law enforcement and a response to trafficking at the Arizona and Mexico border. At a House Judiciary Committee hearing, he argued the proposal underscores the urgency for the state Department of Homeland Security to use its authority against traffickers at the southern border.

Asked at that hearing whether people forced to carry drugs across the border could be labeled terrorists, Montenegro relayed the Department of Homeland Security has established processes and definitions for identifying terrorist organizations and activity rather than on an individual carrying a backpack.

Critics’ Stance

Activists in Progress Arizona characterized the measure as largely symbolic. They argued the language could later be used to justify deploying Arizona National Guard forces to the border.

A spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona raised a similar concern about resources at the border. The more immediate issue is the breadth of the definition. The measure’s language could reach people who aren’t running trafficking organizations, including low-level offenders, people with substance use problems and migrants traveling with paid guides. Hill argued that Arizona residents buying or selling small amounts of drugs could end up designated as terrorists because of a substance use disorder or a minor role in the drug economy.

Rep. Lupe Contreras pressed the same question at the committee hearing about people coerced into carrying drugs across the border.

Definitions Matter for Opioid Addiction

Neither side disputes that the measure is aimed at cartels and to fight drug overdoses, but whether the drafting achieves that. Arizona voters have supported border-related ballot measures before. Proposition 314 created a state crime for crossing the southern border outside an official port of entry and passed with 61% of the vote two years ago.

How the measure would be enforced, if approved, would depend on agency and on how courts read the definition.

Narcotics and Treating Them

Opioids include prescription medications along with illegal fentanyl. Fentanyl remains a major concern considering that overdose rates have risen in Arizona in recent months. 

Opioid overdoses slow and stop breathing. Signs include unresponsiveness, very small pupils, slow or absent breathing and blue or gray lips and fingertips. 

Naloxone reverses an opioid overdose. Consumers can buy it without a prescription in Arizona.

Whatever happens at the ballot box, the tools for treating opioid use disorder are unchanged. Medications for opioid use disorder are the most supported approach and are offered through opioid treatment programs.

Peer support also plays a part. Narcotics Anonymous meetings take place throughout Arizona, in person and online and cost nothing to attend. Some people use NA, others use meds by themselves and many use both. Naloxone and fentanyl test strips are available through Arizona harm reduction programs and many county health departments.

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