AZ prop 203 to finally be implemented

[Friend]

http://blog.norml.org/2012/01/13/ar...tes-2010-voter-approved-medical-cannabis-law/

Nearly 14 months after Arizona voters approved Proposition 203, the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act (AMMA), Republican Gov. Jan Brewer is finally directing the Arizona Department of Health Services to move forward to fully implementation the law. A brief history: In November 2010 Arizona voters narrowly decided in favor of ballot measure 203, which removes state-level criminal penalties for the use and possession of up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana by patients who have written certification from their physician indicating that cannabis may alleviate their condition. The measure also mandated the state to adopt rules to govern the establishment of up to 125 nonprofit cannabis dispensaries, which would be legally authorized to produce and dispense marijuana to authorized patients on a not-for-profit basis.
In April 2011, the Arizona Department of Health Services formalized rules regarding an online ID-card registration for qualified patients. (More than 16,000 Arizona residents are now registered with the state to legally possess cannabis.) The Department also announced at that time that it would begin accepting applications from would-be dispensary operators by June 1. That deadline came and went, however, when Gov. Brewer — who had opposed the passage of AMMA — filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging that her administration’s compliance with the law’s state-licensing provisions would put state employees in danger of federal prosecution. In response to Gov. Brewer’s suit, attorneys representing the American Civil Liberties Union and the NORML Legal Committee co-authored a Motion to Dismiss the case.
Their efforts were successful. Earlier this month, a federal judge rejected Gov. Brewer’ challenge, asserting “[T]he Complaint does not detail any history of prosecution of state employees for participation in state medical marijuana licensing schemes. [and] fails to establish that Plaintiffs are subject to a genuine threat of imminent prosecution and consequently, the Complaint does not meet the constitutional requirements for ripeness. Therefore, Plaintiffs’ claims are unripe and must be dismissed.”
So, has Gov. Brewer finally gotten the message? Apparently so.
Today, Brewer’s office stated for the record that they would no longer challenge the state’s nascent law in court and instead will cooperate to see that the voters’ demands are once and for all fully enacted. Said the Governor in a press release:

“The State of Arizona will not re-file in federal court a lawsuit that sought clarification that State employees would not be subject to federal criminal prosecution simply for implementing the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act. Instead, I have directed the Arizona Department of Health Services to begin accepting and processing dispensary applications, and issuing licenses for those facilities once a (separate) pending legal challenge to the Department’s medical marijuana rules is resolved. … With our request for clarification rebuffed on procedural grounds by the federal court, I believe the best course of action now is to complete the implementation of Proposition 203 in accordance with the law.”
​

According to the website of the Arizona Department of Health, the department hopes to begin accepting applications for dispensaries this summer. To date, only three states — Colorado, Maine, and New Mexico — have granted licenses to allow for the state-sanctioned production and distribution of cannabis. (Several other states, including Delaware, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Vermont, have enacted licensing legislation but to date have refused to issue any actual dispensary licenses.)
Under Arizona law, qualified patients may cultivate their own cannabis at home if they do not reside within 25 miles of an operating cannabis dispensary.

 

[hazy]

Too bad, i was hoping the dispensaries would never open. Once they have spread them out, 99% of people will lose their 'grow' authorization. All the collectives and clubs and patient to patient deals will become illegal and have to stop.
Now the only way to grow legally will be to work for a dispensary. Good deal for a little over 125 people in the state.

 

[kal el]

Too bad, i was hoping the dispensaries would never open. Once they have spread them out, 99% of people will lose their 'grow' authorization. All the collectives and clubs and patient to patient deals will become illegal and have to stop.
Now the only way to grow legally will be to work for a dispensary. Good deal for a little over 125 people in the state.

indeed bro.

 

[Madjag]

Go here for access to Med laws throughout AZ as well as the lawsuits and changes affecting the outcome of the MM Law:

http://www.keytlaw.com/arizonamedicalmarijuanalaw/category/az-legislation/

Current info on the lawsuit by activist Bill Hayes challenging "The 25 Mile Rule":

http://www.keytlaw.com/arizonamedicalmarijuanalaw/2012/02/arizona-medical-marijuana-acts-25-mile-pot-ban/

 

[paper thorn]

Since they're going to start accepting Dispensary apps in the middle of May, i guess now is a good time for AZ patients to give a little love and support to Billy Hayes and his fight against the 25 mile 'no grow' clause of the AMMA.

 

[Madjag]

Definitely

Definitely

Since they're going to start accepting Dispensary apps in the middle of May, i guess now is a good time for AZ patients to give a little love and support to Billy Hayes and his fight against the 25 mile 'no grow' clause of the AMMA.

 

[azez]

yup bill is a nut
but he has an interesting argument against the gov.

 

[Friend]

i'm not a part of the az mmj program, but like you guys, i really hope the 25 mile rule is done away with.

it's very unfair to terminally ill patients who may be confined to their homes and can't travel to a dispensary.

 

[Madjag]

Also unfair to those patients that cannot afford $300-400 for an ounce of herb. It's more about secuirng tax revenue for the state of AZ. Imagine, unlike other states, especially Cali, only 126 or so dispensaries dividing up all the MM patients purchases. Big tax windfall.

If you let folks grow their own, the tax $ drop and the dispensaries will have a much more difficult time being operational.

 

[paper thorn]

Unfair because of the prices you'd be forced to pay, the loss of our favorite hobby, and for some, the way some places are here in AZ, especially if you live around a mountain, you might have to drive 40 miles to go that 25 miles to the disp.
Course what they don't know won't hurt em, right?

 

[Madjag]

 

[Madjag]

I just got off the phone with a representative from the Arizona Medical Marijuana Program to clarify the rule below that is one of the current rules governing AZ medical marijuana:


QP27: How will I know if I am authorized to grow marijuana?
A qualifying patient who is willing and able to cultivate marijuana for his/her use or wants to have a designated caregiver grow marijuana for the qualifying patient's use should indicate a desire to cultivate marijuana on the application. The Department will check to see if the qualifying patient's address is within a 25 mile radius of the nearest operating dispensary. If there is no dispensary within a 25 mile radius of the qualifying patient's home, the Department will issue the qualifying patient or the designated caregiver a registry identification card indicating authorization to grow marijuana.

The representative confirmed that this means that if you live 25 miles in a straight line from the nearest dispensary that you cannot cultivate.

You might live in a rural area, down a long dirt road, and yet over the mountain in Tucson there is a new dispensary that opens on the eastern edge of town. Though it might take you 2 1/2 hours to drive there, you are stuck with that place determining your right to cultivate (or not) your 12 medicine plants.

The next question I had was whether those who have already started the grow would have to quit in mid-season if a dispensary opens in the next few months within that 25 mile radius of their residence. The rep said your individual cycle is your card's expiration date. In other words, if your card expires on Sept 1 and a dispensary within 25 miles of you has opened in the period before that date, when your card comes up for renewal you will not be authorized to cultivate your 12 plants. If there is no dispensary within a 25 mile radius (straight line) of your home when you re-apply, you are good for another whole year of cultivation from your renewal date.

For you outdoor growers let's hope you got your card initially on October 29th to cover all those wonderful sativas that take longer to mature!

Peace,
MJ

 

[kal el]

The 25 mile rule will stand until it gets brought up on a ballot by the people and then gets voted on.

 

[Madjag]

I don't believe that is correct:

“A new lawsuit over Arizona’s Medical Marijuana Act targets the provision that bans patients and caregivers from growing pot within 25 miles of an open dispensary. Bill Hayes, a marijuana activist and qualified patient who lives in Surprise, argues in a federal complaint filed yesterday that the provision violates the equal protection clause of the state constitution. . . . Hayes, who was a volunteer for the Arizona Compassion Club when we met him back in June, now runs the Arizona Cannabis Society, . . . In the other lawsuit we mentioned, philanthropist Gerald Gaines wants the court to throw out a DHS rule — the one that requires a licensed physician to be a medical director.”

It sits on Judge Bolton's desk awaiting her decision. Once she rules, unless the State of Arizona disagrees enough to appeal, and remember the Gov and crew didn't during the last Judge's decision forcing the state to get going with the law the public voted in, the decision will become law.

 

[kal el]

Bill Hayes can fight it all he wants. It's not going to accomplish anything.
It's the same way the legislature couldn't overturn the people's will to have prop 203 voted into law.

 

[azez]

i dont agree
i think the equal protection clause argument may be valid
at least i hope so
peace
ez

 

[billycw]

You never know which way the AZ courts will go, comes down to the judge's interpretation at some point. Have heard they have a decent judge sitting so I'm hopeful because thats all we have at this point, until the next challenge.

 

[bluepeace]

Hope Hayes Prevails!

 

[Madjag]

Arizona dispensary applications are rolling in with 15 applications on the first day for 13 areas (CHAA). See my post here:

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?p=5116952#post5116952

 

[waveguide]

scuse me for coopting this thread.. not really sure where else to put a Q to az growers. the med group i networked with in tucson a few years ago seems to have gone under for now.


i haven't grown outside before, but i have grown lots of other plants here for a few decades. plants are in containers and go out in the day, in at night for safety.

i've got seedlings that are about 11 days now. they're in a mix of FFOF with perlite and sphagnum. soil shouldn't be an issue.

i've been putting them outside under a lattice, where they get ~40% shade at regular periods as the sun goes over. sides of containers are off the ground, getting shade, so roots aren't getting boiled.

they haven't grown in about 6 days.. first true leaves came out, none are too big, and they're just sitting there.. some have tiny little next set of leaves, but they're just miniscule and sitting in the middle. they're not growing at a regular rate.

apart from the issues i have with brujeria (don't ask, it fucks me) - doncha think that 40% shade in our good old az sun should be producing some booming veg growth?

anyone got any ideas? did i miss the memo and sun is bad for plants?



figuring on taking a few gens to acclimatise the strains i've got, but can't see how it could be so far off.. perhaps when all this crap is straightened out we can exchange stuff that's suited for our environment.