Judge orders Arizona to allow MMJ sales

[trichrider]

An Arizona judge has told the state's government to get out of the way and let people have the medical marijuana dispensaries they voted for in 2010. The judge ordered Gov. Jan Brewer, a consistent opponent of medical marijuana, to fully implement the law and allow dispensaries to open, reports the Wall Street Journal. He also struck down restrictions requiring dispensary operators to be state residents with no history of bankruptcy or "government debts" like unpaid taxes or outstanding parking tickets.
The medical marijuana law had been stuck in legal limbo while Brewer sought assurances that state employees would not be prosecuted under federal law. "The court is not unmindful of the state's dilemma; it is caught between the proverbial rock and hard place," the judge wrote. But "the voters intended [the law] to be implemented within 120 days. This has not been done." The Arizona law allows up to 126 dispensaries in the state.

http://www.newser.com/story/137897/arizona-ordered-to-allow-marijuana-sales.html

this is a nice change from the usual BS!

 

[CANNATOPIA]

Nice post! & Good Read!

 

[castout]

Now, let's get the feds on board!!!!

 

[itisme]

Its good to know that the fake help can't be everywhere....Great job Judge, way to protect your citizens!

 

[Madjag]

Now if we can just get the "25 Mile" rule to change so that people have the option to grow if they do not want to buy from a dispensary.

 

[Maj.PotHead]

GJ AZ now Nevada needs the same judge or judges to slap our state's government to get out of the way and let people have the medical marijuana dispensaries We Voted For in 1998 and Ratified it into law in 2000. where supposed to have in a timely manner after ratifing MMJ into law in 2000 despensaries. some place safe taxed and controled but NOOOOOOOO any that do operate here are illegal under stae law because none where passed to allow them yet.

 

[DoobieDuck]

Trich thanks so for posting, news i like hearing for sure. DD

 

[RaNgEr RiCk]

Michigan could use a judge like this.

 

[Madjag]

The 25-Mile Rule favors the wealthy and is very biased at increasing Arizona's tax revenues over the needs of MM patients. If a person who truly needs Medical Marijuana is poor, they can grow their own medicine extremely reasonably. How could they possibly afford $250-$400 / ounce dispensary prices if they are using an ounce weekly for their pain protocol? By putting seeds into the ground and cultivating their own marijuana they can easily grow enough medical marijuana to last them all year with the 12 plants that they are allowed to grow.

This points out another huge grey area in Arizona's Medical Marijuana law: a qualifying patient is allowed to have 2 1/2 ounces every two weeks as a maximum amount to have in their possession. Approximately 16,000 qualified patients have been currently cleared to cultivate out of the nearly 20,000 qualified Medical Marijuana patients in Arizona. Unless they are all experts at indoor growing and have the ability to keep a constant harvest going, sooner or later, especially with outdoor and greenhouse growers, a large harvest is going to come in and they will be illegal. Even having 3 or 4 ounces on hand because your indoor harvest was a "bumper crop" makes the patient illegal.

Why not change the law to read that a patient who is a cultivator can grow and possess the same amount on an annual basis that the 2 1/2 ounces per 2 weeks equals? This would work out to be in the neighborhood of 4 pounds (60 ounces). I can't imagine even indoor cultivators tossing out extra marijuana from harvests just because they couldn't time their production with expert accuracy. Thus, most cultivators will be illegal in the face of the current law.

 

[Madjag]

Oh yeah!

In case you did not know, the 25 Mile Rule is at the heart of a lawsuit recently filed to get the whole rule dropped from Arziona's Medical Marijuana law:

http://arizonamarijuanadispensary.com/motion-filed-to-remove-25-mile-rule-from-prop-203/

 

[g0dzilla]

you can purchase 2 1/2 ounces every two weeks but if you read it says you can have an uninterrupted supply... i would read and interpret again.

 

[Madjag]

That's the problem - there has been no "official" clarification. The same disparity is evident for the cultivation site supplying a dispensary: only one cultivation site per dispensary is allowed and it must be in the same CHAA (Community Health Analysis Area). The dispensary can purchase more from other dispensaries that have surplus. Surplus would mean that their cultivation system puts out more than they can sell on site so they need to sell more at wholesale/distributor pricing. And while there is no limit as to how much that cultivation site can grow for the dispensary according to the AZ law, legal experts agree that you might first want to consult an attorney before growing a big old field, even if you are the chosen site and attached by registration to an approved dispensary (when they evetually appear), you may want to move slowly and carefully. Large scale cultivation is still not a federally accepted tradition, haha.

An uninterrupted supply does not mean that you can have more than the 2 1/2 oz on hand, in my interpretation. "Uninterrupted" would mean that you could keep a Sea of Green or other style grow close at hand, pumping out your 2.5 ounces on schedule every 2 weeks. If you don't use it all, every week, it's the accumulation that puts you into dangerous territory. That is, if you want to be squeeky clean legal.

My thought is that this is all a dance on the way to legalization and taxation. The Feds will still jump at those that push the limits as with the flimsy, fly-by-night dispensaries that popped up all over LA in Cali.

Of course the 4 pounds that this 2 1/2 oz every 2 weeks equals in the equivalent of a year's supply can also just live at a different address. If you were an outdoor or greenhouse grower you would only be at risk for that harvest day or three (if you had only one strain that harvested fairly uniformly in a few days). A safer place elswhere, for drying, pruning, and stashing would be the peaceful alternative.

 

[GP73LPC]

fuck jan brewer, bitch !!!!

 

[blackosprey]

Michigan could use a judge like this.

Yeah so could New Jersey....There was a news report last night that said it would probably be Jan 2013 before the first dispensary was open, a total of 4 years after the law was passed.
Of all the MMJ states, NJ is probably the most draconian as far as what is allowed and what is not.

 

[billycw]

So glad to see the suit against the 25 mile rule. Everyone knew it was coming down the pike but I'm glad its a good arguement. Looks to be a good judge to preside as well. Holding my breath on this one.

As for the weight issue, I agree with madjag, get that shit out. That wouldn't really help those with no one to trust but could save your life. If caregiving maybe the patients could hang and cure themselves although accurate weight would become an issue. As far as I understand you just have to keep the roots on so it goes against plant numbers and not weight on transport, but I could be way off so please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[MadBuddhaAbuser]

Yeah NJ could borrow him for a minute?

Two years and no progress. Bullshit.

 

[groer]

The 25 mile rule has to go.

The uninterupted supply clause says you can have a "reasonable amount" so it's pretty vague.

 

[hazy]

The problem with the 25 mile no grow around dispensaries thing is that it is not a rule that the AzDHS made, but part of the law itself. What the DHS did to make that part suck even more is create the CHAA scheme to spread the dispensaries around the state so even folks way out in BFE can't grow.
You know the soon to be dispensary owners that wrote the law helped plan that with 'officials.'

 

[groer]

You can help with the lawsuit against the 25 mile rule, go to hydrobreed or azcs and look for the donation thread, I donated a hundred.

 

[g0dzilla]

The 25 mile rule has to go.

The uninterupted supply clause says you can have a "reasonable amount" so it's pretty vague.

agreed, and agreed..