Arizona compassion clubs

[Eli Bloom]

So i just moved back out west a couple weeks ago and just got approved by the state for my medical card and it should arrive in the mail in the next few days.

first of all, i can't express my joy to no longer have to operate as a "criminal" in the eyes of the public or law enforcement for being a medical marijuana user. this is a great feeling and a huge weight off of my shoulders, especially being in arizona where they take possession very seriously (i had been arrested years ago in AZ with less than an oz and a pipe and initially charged with felony possession and felony paraphernalia!)

anyway as we all know it takes a while to get a grow going and harvested so in the mean time i'm curious about these "compassion clubs" that are popping up around the valley.

searching on weed maps and stuff is tedious because i'm pretty sure anybody can post up a dispensary or service with no validation which leads to an excess of dead links. everyone who was hopeful to start a dispensary put it up on those sorts of sites and they remain there.

i found one in mesa and one in tempe and i stopped by but they told me my paperwork wasn't enough and to come back when my card arrives in the mail...no biggie i can wait a couple days (i got an email from the DHS that it was sent out yesterday).

does anybody have any experience with these clubs or is able to suggest a decent one? some of the prices seem pretty ridiculous ($25 to join and $65/4g). are there any that actually display some financial compassion? how about quality? i'm in the east valley area.

cheers.

 

[MF Grimm]

The compassion clubs are a joke.

The 2811 club charges $75 an eighth for good, but not AAA+++ weed.

The other places all slang last years outdoor crop. They also make you sign over your growing rights to them if you wanna buy from them.

You would think they would give you a break in price if you give up your grow rights, but it's still $400 an ounce. This is at Arizona Cannabis Society. They have a website with a bunch of patients that you can link up with and cop herb.

 

[Eli Bloom]

thanks for the tip...i can't believe what a racket that is....you give them the ability to grow 12 more plants which they can crop AT LEAST a p from (if they're going indoor and not doing monsters...) and they still charge you up the nose for it! and you're saying they're not even selling good indoor they're growing with those grow rights but rather old outs? sheesh.....i guess they're taking the risk of operating in the grey area but man...not much compassion.

 

[RockstarsEarWax]

How's your luck been on finding a decent compassion club in Phx? Any Updates?

 

[MF Grimm]

AZCS is really good. I mean it's $15/g, $50 1/8, $400 zone most stuff, but they have a lot of overhead. But if you need a reliable hook, they are easy to fine. Only thing that sucks is that if you want to go through them, they run a collective style, and you have to sign over your grow rights.

 

[RockstarsEarWax]

AZCS is really good. I mean it's $15/g, $50 1/8, $400 zone most stuff, but they have a lot of overhead. But if you need a reliable hook, they are easy to fine. Only thing that sucks is that if you want to go through them, they run a collective style, and you have to sign over your grow rights.

Thank you Grimm for that information. I am yet to try them but I don't think that is going to be an option for me, I would never sign over my grow rights, especially right now with there being no dispensaries and all, that would just be plain stupid! If anything we should take full advantage of that "grey area" right now while we still can. AZ Green was my choice for meds up until about 2 months ago when the Feds did their scandulous crackdown crap, basically robbing them of all their cash and meds. Sure the charges got dropped but the scare tactic worked as they are yet to resume medicine dispersion. Unfortunate because they were doing it right. I have just been going through the caregiver associated with my clinic and they have been pretty good to me. I have to say, it's hard to find good, top shelf medicine in Arizona.

 

[Duplicate]

Does anyone have an idea of how the enforcement of growing rights works? If you're "busted" for growing do they have a database to see who, if anyone, you've signed your rights over to? Can you designate a time limit on the rights signed over? Can you only join one club out there?

 

[OjoRojo420]

Nothing but tweakers growing weed...

That's what some of "those" greedy caretakers are!

Ojo

 

[skull and roses]

so how do arizona clubs buy there meds?

 

[Duplicate]

^ Sounds like they grow their own.

 

[hazy]

Start your own collective. Since 12 plants is just not enough plants if you want to keep a decent variety of strains, The only way would be to go in with 5 or 20 people and pool those 12 plant limits, so you could keep multiple strains and stay legal. Of course you can't have 20 people tramping through the grow room for many reasons, a good one being security, so only one or two peeps would run the grow, while everyone else contributes to the grow though donations to buy lights etc, and in return get meds. Of course the cash contributing, non growing members of the collective/club can't grow because then they would be over the limit, because they already have 12 plants growing for them at the grower's place.
That is basically what these 'clubs' are doing. Skip the high prices and hook up with a small group of trusted peeps and you'll be better off.

Doesn't matter, soon the dispensaries will shut down all but the most remote, way out in BFE, growers.

 

[kal el]

You can caregive for patients out in the boonies and still grow near a dispensary, your patients need to be 25 miles out.

 

[hazy]

http://azmmps.org/arizona-medical-marijuana-law-to-be-questioned-in-federal-court

Hopefully this will at least delay the opening of the dispensaries, and with any luck, we'll get the 25 mile clause of Prop 203 struck down. We had to hold our nose while we voted for this law because of that ridiculous idea. Way to go Billy Hayes, MMJ hero. see his pic in the link above.
Here's the text:

Today a ‘motion for a preliminary injunction and memorandum of law in support thereof’ was filed in the United States District Court for the district of Arizona which will send the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act back to Federal Court. The lawsuit, HAYES vs ARIZONA has Governor Brewer named along side the Director of the Arizona Department of Health Services Will Humble and Robert Halliday who is the director of the Arizona Department of Public Safety as well as Tom Horne the Arizona Attorney General. The Plaintiff is listed as Billy Hayes, the Co-Founder and former CEO of Arizona Cannabis Society, local medical marijuana advocate and also a well known medical marijuana cultivation consultant. The case itself is claiming a small portion of the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act (AMMA) is unconstitutional, the section in question is being referred to as the “25 Mile Rule” and Hayes is looking to have it removed from the Law.

“comes now, one Pro Se…and hereby moves the court to preliminary enjoin enforcement of Arizona Revised Statute 36-2804.02 (A)(3)(f) and preserve the status quo with respect to that portion of the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act that allows for cultivation of Medical Marijuana…”

The case alleges the above listed section of the AMMA interferes with Federal Equal Protection under the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution and as such should be stricken from the AMMA, no other portion of the AMMA is being challenged.

This lawsuit against the state is like nothing we have seen as of yet regarding the implementation of the AMMA, as it a single patient challenging the State, regarding just a single section of the AMMA but don’t be confused, this little section is enormous in nature. The portion of the law being challenged has been the source of much controversy since the implementation of the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act and Hayes has sat in the background watching and listening to it all.

“I have a unique position in the industry as a cultivation consultant, I actually see what people are growing, how they’re growing it and the benefits they get from cultivating cannabis. It goes farther than just the obvious financial benefits for patients that choose to grow their own cannabis, it goes a lot farther.”


Arizona Cannabis Society first appeared as a cultivation force in an article by Ray Stern from the New Times, in another New Times article you can find images of Hayes smoking a large joint, his mmj card was also used in an article by Ray Stern and the New Times regarding Arizona’s medical marijuana act and its implementation, or lack there of. A video of Hayes speaking out against cultivation restrictions at a Town of Gilbert Planning & Zoning meeting can also be found on the city’s official website. Advocacy aside, he was also recently featured in THC Revista, an Argentinian cannabis cultivation magazine, the magazine which is riddled with photos of hydroponic systems and gorgeous marijuana plants. A significant number of those photos have Hayes’ name attached. Hayes definitely knows how to cultivate cannabis and that could be important in this case, as the words “ORAL ARGUMENT REQUESTED” are in bold across the front of the motion.



The case is no small matter by any means and Hayes is taking it very seriously. The law currently states that if/when a dispensary opens its doors within 25 miles of the patient, that patient will no longer be authorized to cultivate medical marijuana upon renewal of their medical marijuana registry card.
Hayes is looking to change that portion of the law, well, “remove” it is a better way to say it, he wants it axed and he is willing to go into the federal court system to try. He is potentially implicating himself in activity that is still considered a federal crime, so that every patient in Arizona has a choice as to where, and how their medication is produced. Marijuana madman, Arizona medical marijuana martyr, legal genius, truth is only time will tell us which one of these Hayes is, time and a federal judge.

In an interview with Hayes that was done just prior to his filing the case, we asked some of the more obvious questions, for example, ‘why would you want to possibly delay the dispensaries any longer than they already have been, if, your advocating for yourself as well as potentially all of the patients in Arizona as this decision could affect them all.’
Hayes replied quite matter of factly “I have heard this section of the law discussed at every single meeting, industry function, industry event, you name it, it was obvious something needed to be done to try and protect AMMA patients and talking was getting us nowhere.”

When we asked him why he choose to wait until now to file the lawsuit he said “It had to be perfect, the lawsuit that is. I will only get one chance at this lawsuit so it has to be done carefully, it had to be done correctly. Representing yourself pro se against the State is never an easy task, you have to have all your ducks in a row before you step in through those courtroom doors.”

During the interview we asked why Robert Halliday is listed in the lawsuit, Hayes responded “it’s his job to direct the DPS employees below him to do the background checks, verify registry cards, issue criminal citations and arrest suspected offenders of violations of the AMMA. I tried to limit who was named and he unfortunately had to be on that list, he took an oath to defend my Constitutional Rights and is in charge of many others that did the same. It is very important these individuals understand clearly what those new ‘rights’ under the law are.”

The magnitude of this case is hard to grasp at first, start with every business that is involved at this point or potentially could be. The dispensaries stand to lose their monopoly of the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act by loosing control of 99% of all the cultivation in the state according to Hayes. Many of the “grow shops” that opened and are flourishing during Arizona’s green rush would be forced to close, many of the caregivers would no longer be able to supply their patients with “home grown” medicine and this directly effects these stores economically.

There are literally dozens of legitimate ancillary businesses and business models that would be forced to close due to lack of customer base. Patients would lose their ability to choose how their medicine was produced, and caregivers would lose their ability to produce it. Marijuana Testing facilities would lose a tremendous amount of potential business, processing facilities such as medicinal cannabis bakeries, commercial kitchens that are family owned and operated would lose thousands of potential patient clients. Even businesses being developed to dispose of the “controlled substance” aka unusable marijuana which by law must be incinerated would have no chance of developing successful businesses operations.

Now businesses aside, there are currently over 19,000 mmj patients in the state of Arizona, and over 16,500 of them are “approved to cultivate” by AZDHS. These patients stand a lot to lose considering everyone of those patients was presented with a choice to cultivate or not to cultivate when they applied through the AZDHS registry system to receive their medical marijuana card.

The “status quo” according to Hayes has clearly been established in regards to the AMMA and the stack of signed statements he already has appears to back up his claims.

Early I mentioned Hayes and his appearance at the Gilbert P&Z meeting, he was there representing the patients that were already cultivating or had intentions of cultivating their own medical marijuana who were facing massive restrictions from the Town of Gilbert. I watched the meeting, several times, although it only took one time to see and hear the impact Hayes had on the Planning and Zoning Commission and their decision to scrap pretty much everything on the table regarding restrictions against patients. In fact he attended meetings all over Arizona, almost everyone of those meetings ended with a similar result, very little if any restrictions against patients wishing to cultivate.

I have also seen Hayes at meetings advocating for dispensaries as well, which to some may seem a bit odd considering he is filing a lawsuit that could deal quite a financial blow to dispensaries if he wins. Hayes was the acting CEO of Arizona Cannabis Society until recently when he resigned and designated the current CFO as the new acting CEO of the very company he founded. Arizona Cannabis Society (AZCS) has made public intentions of submitting multiple applications to operate dispensaries in Arizona, so why would the Founder and former CEO file a lawsuit that could potentially take away AZCS’s and every other dispensary owners hand in the AZ mmj monopoly game?

If you ask Hayes he’ll tell you, “Our Constitution and our Rights are being legislated and executive ordered away almost daily at this point, we need to stand up for people’s rights regardless of how it effects us economically, we’re all in this boat together and it’s going to sink if we don’t start plugging these holes being carved into our constitutional rights.”

Hayes seems well versed in Constitutional as well as State Law and his knowledge of cannabis cultivation would undoubtedly overwhelm anyone the state could offer during the “ORAL ARGUMENT REQUESTED” by Hayes in his motion. It would seem the State is up against a very formidable opponent in a fight that could change the entire face of the AMMA.

One thing that could work in the plaintiff’s favor is the Judge that will be presiding over the case, the Honorable Judge Susan Bolton will be hearing the case and oral argument if the case makes it that far. Judge Bolton’s name should be very familiar with most of us by now. Arizona’s SB1070 was shredded by Judge Bolton on the very same grounds Hayes is requesting a preliminary injunction and memorandum of law on, constitutionality.

From Judgepedia:

Judge Bolton dismissed a lawsuit on January 4, 2012 filed by Arizona claiming a state law passed by voters in 2010 that legalized medical-marijuana put state workers at risk for federal prosecution and imprisonment due to conflict with federal drug law. Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, who opposed the measure, had sought to block the creation of marijuana dispensaries allowed by the law – claiming that state employees charged with regulating the dispensaries were at risk for federal prosecution. Bolton ruled that the state had not established a “genuine threat of imminent prosecution” and dismissed the case.

A spokesman for Governor Brewer’s office expressed great disappointment over the ruling. Joe Yuhas, spokesman for the Arizona Medical Marijuana Association, said of the ruling “We would hope that our state leaders will now recognize it is time to stop wasting taxpayer dollars in an effort to thwart the will of the voters and move ahead with full implementation of the initiative.”



Arizona counter-suit

On October 21, 2011, Judge Bolton dismissed a lawsuit filed by Governor Jan Brewer against the federal government. The lawsuit was filed as a counter-suit to the one filed by the Justice Department challenging Arizona’s immigration law. In her suit, Gov. Brewer claimed that the federal government was not doing enough to protect the state form illegal immigration. Judge Bolton dismissed the suit saying that Gov. Brewer’s charges were political questions not appropriate for a court to decide. In addition, Judge Bolton said that some of the state’s claims must be thrown out because they were answered in a 1994 court case in Arizona and cannot be litigated again.

Judge Bolton wrote, “While Arizona may disagree with the established enforcement priorities, Arizona’s allegations do not give rise to a claim that the counter-defendants (the federal government) have abdicated their statutory responsibilities.”

Arizona immigration law (S.B. 1070)

The United States Department of Justice took the state of Arizona to court in order to stop its bill on immigration from taking effect July 29, 2010. In the ruling, Bolton upheld parts of the law, while striking down some of its more controversial aspects.

In summary, parts of the law that were upheld:

* The state can restrict local officials from creating “sanctuary city” policies that limit enforcement of the law;
* Arizona state officials will work with the federal government on illegal immigration;
* and it is a crime to employ day laborers, often illegal immigrants that wait for work in public areas.

Parts of the law blocked by the decision:

The state cannot criminalize individuals for failing to have alien registration papers on them;
Arizona cannot authorize “the warrantless arrest of a person” if law officials believe she or he is in the county illegally.
The state of Arizona appealed the ruling in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The Ninth Circuit upheld Bolton’s ruling on April 1, 2011.
Read the Ninth Circuit opinion here: USA v. State of Arizona

credit: www.judgepedia.com

In fact Hayes makes several mentions of the history of the Federal Court regarding the dissection of laws that are in partial unconstitutional while leaving the remaining portions intact. In Arizona’s latest medical-marijuana lawsuit on page 10 you’ll find the now famous SB1070 ruling by Judge Bolton from United States v. Arizona, 703 F. Supp. 2D 980, 1008 (D. Ariz.2010) On page 11 of Hayes’ motion we find, “it appears clear that the prevailing trend is that a federal Court should not invalidate more of a statute than necessary” and this statement appears to be very true. For all intensive purposes it seems, at least at face value Hayes and his legal team have put together a solid motion that will go before the court.

contact info:
[email protected][/SIZE]

 

[waveguide]

no details but at the one med club i contacted in az i paid the same i paid anyplace else - $150 a qp, once $175. that was good stuff.. very bubblegummy.

would love to get back there but no motorised transport atm so i'm dryyyyyyyyyy

for one thing i'd like to know if they still have the genetics i shared, since i lost them, but no facetime = no information.

 

[Art Vandelay]

Stay away from the Phxco op its a joke!!

 

[billycw]

Visited one "club" and was disgusted. The waiting room had a couple tweekers just hanging around, seemed to know the owner. When I started talking to the owner, who claimed to grow and has been growing for some time, he seemed to not know his shit. I should have left at that, but I was curious. Next a very nice girl takes you back to an office setup behind a desk with jars sitting on it. She was very sweet and nice but knew less to nothing about cannabis. They had a budget "greenhouse" grown selection of about 6 diff strains and about 7-8 top shelf(believe me it wasn't). The greenhouse buds all reminded me of hydrated brick from mexico, and on top of that seemed like the shit that would go around in the summer when its slim pickings. All smelled and looked very very close. The strains to name a couple were lemon bubba(smelled and looked NOTHING like bubba at all!), super sour deisel, og kush, kings kush.... Not 1 had the smell or look associated with the strain. She told me the grower cures his buds weirdly. I would be shocked if I found out someone in america grew these "greenhouse" buds. These were all $10gram.

Next was the top shelf. Looked exactly the same as the greenhouse ones but not packed and rehydrated. All had the lawn trimings-hay type background with citris twang on the front and BARELY there. Little to no resin, airy, little to no smell... some of these strains were purple wreck, gdp, sour kush... Not 1 of these smelled or looked like they should. I wouldn't pay stress prices for what they had, but they were charging $20g!!!

So just so I could show another patient friend, because he wouldn't have believed me how bad it was, I grabed 2 grams of the super sour diesel. Seriously hope this isn't the case for the rest of the clubs. The thing that disturbs me is the same strains are poping up all over az. I really really hope this is not what is being sold at the majority of the clubs. I seriously fell so bad for the people that really really need it and only have access to crap like this. Sadly pictures cant even show how bad it really is.

Havent smoked reg in over 10 years but had to try it. I had to put the joint out not even halfway through. It wasn't even good mexi brick! Sad!

 

[MF Grimm]

Wow, wish you could let us know what club so we don't waste our time there.

I wish I could find an easier way to vend some of my excess meds in the Valley.

Wish the state would get their shit together.

 

[billycw]

Hey Grimm, sorry thought I put that in there. It was AZ cannapassion cooperative.

I hear you, but its good right now for the self grower like it is and eventually market will dictate the weaker places out of op where we will be stuck with whatever crap the dispencery gives us. If or when they take away the 25 mile crap I'll breath easier.

 

[merlin123]

In AZ you can have 12 plants. How much finished product?

 

[Peacemonger]

Sounds like the Mexicans

Sounds like the Mexicans

Looks to me from what you post it's saying. What I have been worried about. Mexy composted crap from commersh mexy grows. Or the MM understanding "why not just go legit'...But they will soon learn they will only barely get away with these prices for crap in places like Arizona for a brief while. The larger concern is the these these guys (read between the lines) when I say "these guys" will try to start large legitimate grows with "strong arm" tactics and ruin it for everyone ...like they seem to love to do. A lot of "reading between the lines here" But , most should understand what I'm talking about. That picture is deff the outdoor mexy poorly ferted , poorly dried mexy crap looks like to me. I use to get the bricks back in the late sixtys and seventys for an embarassing price. Always had that 'dull dark green leafy look."