After two years of legal wrangling, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled yesterday that extracts and infusions are legal under the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act, first passed by the constituents of AZ in 2010.
Rodney Jones, whose arrest of .05 grams of cannabis concentrate sparked the legal battle, also had his conviction and sentence overturned as a result of the justices unanimous ruling.
Said the justices: “(The Arizona Medical Marijuana Act – AMMA) defines marijuana as including ‘all parts of any plant of the genus cannabis whether growing or not."
Cheers to that.
Finally, the @caregivers, @growopowners, and @dispensary owners of the state of AZ will be able to conduct business without fear of legal reprisal and the patients of the state can take a dab, eat infused food, or buy a vape cart without worrying about attaining felony convictions. Let’s all breathe a collective sigh of relief!
What do you think this will mean for the cannabis industry in AZ? Do you think legalization is on the horizon?
12 Likes
It is a bit of relief. However, now the weight of concentrates that can be held by an individual is in an ambiguous state. The AZ Supreme Court seems to of offered the idea that the amount of concentrates which can be held by an individual is that which was produced from up to 2.5 OZ of dried flower. However, the AZ Supreme Court doesn’t consider the leaf material a portion of the weight of the dried flower. Therefore, all concentrates made from trim are technically out of the weight restrictions. Which brings forth the problem of provability. The amount which can be held by an individual is another problem which AZ patients are going to have to be thrown through the courts in order to decide.
Another benefit of the AZ Supreme Court opinion; it gives Caregivers and Patients the right to process, and produce their own concentrates. Which is another legal matter within the courts currently, this Supreme Court decision might bring positive results for those being prosecuted by the Anti-Cannabis prosecutors of Arizona…
4 Likes
If I recall Rodney Jones was sentenced to 2.5 years and served a bunch of time as well. His arrest occurred back in 2013. Arizona, my base of operations, loves to talk about individual freedom and small government but pays it no mind as soon as they come up with some kind of moral imperative to ignore the principle of individual freedom. They are so pissed that medical marijuana was passed via referendum that they have put in draconian rules surrounding referendums in general going forward. So pissed in fact, that an attorney general and lower court judge were willing to gamble with this guy’s life by putting him prison.
4 Likes
An eloquent, however scathing, indictment of Arizona policies. I couldn’t agree more with your points regarding the Jones case and AZ policy in general, @hrpaul
3 Likes
