Page 10 - the NOISE September 2012

State’s Rights Going to Pot?
ingly in 1996 and 1998 but technical errors in the wording of those laws failed to pro- tect medical marijuana patients from arrest. The 2010 initiative was brought to the bal- lot with heavy support from the Arizona Medical Marijuana Policy Project, part of a national grassroots organization.
Since the law passed, more than 22,000 people have been issued medical marijua- na cards in Arizona. This grants them the right to smoke, eat, or otherwise ingest can- nabis in a variety of forms for the purpose of treating a medical illness. Most of these ap- plicants have been granted permission to grow their own plants in limited numbers because of the lack of dispensaries in the state. Under the law, cardholders can grow up to 12 plants at a time in a “secure facil- ity” and legally possess up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis for personal medical use. Once dispensaries begin to open in Arizona, a medical marijuana cardholder would have to live more than 25 miles from the near- est dispensary in order to be permitted to grow plants. This issue has some patients crying foul because it will cost significantly more to purchase their medicine at a dis- pensary than it has to grow it at home.
Nonetheless, medical marijuana patients have had their homes raided, their pot con- fiscated, and have faced arrest. Prop 203 has specific requirements for security that must be followed in order for a licensed user to cultivate. For example, if cultiva- tion is outdoors the area where the plants are grown must be surrounded by a stone, metal, or concrete wall at least ten feet high and with a 1-inch-thick metal entry gate. Charges have been for cultivation viola- tions like having too many plants or not having the proper security and for posses- sion of amounts in excess of what the Prop 203 law allows.
But now, Mr. Horne, an elected state ex- ecutive officer, is threatening to prosecute dispensaries that open under licenses is- sued by the state. He has adamantly stood behind the idea that medical marijuana violates federal law which prohibits the cul- tivation, sale, and use of cannabis — period. Other states that enacted medical mari- juana laws prior to Arizona have struggled with this issue as well. But few have had their own Attorney Generals threaten state prosecution.
The conflict between state and federal law on this issue is being played out around the country, as there are now 17 states and the District of Columbia that allow medical marijuana. Twenty-seven states have also decriminalized non-medical marijuana to varying degrees. Earlier this year, President Obama announced that the Department of Justice would not make prosecution of medical marijuana users a priority.
Funny, when it comes to immigration and abortion law, the State of Arizona has fought tooth and nail to defend its state’s rights. In the case of Arizona’s controver- sial immigration law, SB 1070, the state de- fended its law all the way to the Supreme Court. And in August 2012, the so-called
“Women’s Health and Safety Act” went into effect. While, according to federal law and past Supreme Court decisions, abortions are legal in all 50 states during the first two trimesters this Arizona state law has made abortion effectively illegal after only 20 weeks. But in the medical marijuana debate, the state’s Attorney General has repeatedly fallen back on federal law as a way to trump the state’s voter-supported provision even going so far as to say he will
Cannabis – also known marijuana, pot, weed, maryjane, spliff, grass, hemp, and herb. If you’ve grown up in the US over the last 50 years or so, you may have tried it but you’ve no doubt heard about how bad it is for you. It’ll fry your brain, make you lazy, make you fat, and lead to the use of “harder” drugs. But what you might not have heard is that re- cent scientific studies are showing that it may, in fact, be the cure for cancer.
On August 7, Arizona’s Department of Health Services selected 126 winners in a lottery for medical marijuana dispensa- ries around the state. According to Camp Verde’s Bugle, the Verde Valley had more applicants than almost any other region in the state. Two dispensaries were awarded in the area, including one in Sedona. The first dispensaries could open in Arizona in a matter of weeks.
The lottery was drawn the day after Ari- zona’s Attorney General Tom Horne stated that anyone who opens a dispensary in the state will be in violation of the federal Controlled Substances Act. The Controlled Substances Act. passed in 1970, made it il-
legal to possess, use, buy, sell, or cultivate marijuana in the US.
Cannabis is classified as a Schedule 1 ille- gal narcotic along with heroin, LSD, peyote, methaqualone (Quaaludes), and “ecstasy.” According to the Drug Enforcement Ad- ministration’s website, these substances
“have a high potential for abuse, have no currently accepted medical use in treat- ment in the United States, and there is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical super- vision.” Cocaine, on the other hand, is a Schedule 2 drug still recognized for limited use for medicinal purposes.
Mr. Horne has declared the state is “pow- erless” to allow the legal use and distribu- tion of cannabis, even for medical purposes and under a doctor’s supervision, as long as it remains illegal under federal law. Mr. Horne’s opinion was published after 13 of Arizona’s 15 county prosecutors filed a let- ter urging Governor Jan Brewer to halt the implementation of dispensaries in the state.
Arizona Health Services Director Will Humble announced the lottery for dispen- saries would go on as planned but was un-
sure of what the future would hold for those selected. Days after the selection process was completed, Governor Brewer signed a waiver allowing Mr. Horne to close down dispensaries the state is currently licens- ing. The waiver is necessary because the Attorney General represents all state agen- cies including the governor’s office and the Department of Health Services (DHS). Gov- ernor Brewer said she was using the waiver to “put kind of a wall between Mr. Horne and myself.” So, while Mr. Horne has vowed to oppose the opening of dispensaries in Arizona, his office would still be responsible for representing Mr. Humble and the DHS if there are legal challenges to their actions including the licensing of those dispensa- ries.
The legalization of medical marijuana in Arizona went into effect with the passage of Proposition 203 in November 2010. The Arizona Medical Marijuana Act (Prop 203) was a citizen’s initiative approved by voters, albeit by a narrow margin just slightly over 50% — just a few thousand votes. Marijua- na initiatives had been passed overwhelm-
10 • SEPTEMBER 2012 • the NOISE arts & news magazine • thenoise.us