Hoping for a speedy conclusion, Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery on Friday asked the Arizona Supreme Court to immediately take up his challenge to the state's medical marijuana law.
In legal papers filed with the high court, Montgomery told the justices that his bid to overturn a lower court ruling upholding the law is proceeding at the Court of Appeals at a very slow pace. Montgomery filed his formal brief Friday; now the other side gets time to respond, with Montgomery then getting a chance to reply to that.
He said quick resolution is needed.
"The issue presented -- whether the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act is preempted by the federal Controlled Substances Act -- is an important issue of statewide impact,'' Montgomery told the justices.
Key to all that is whatever the high court rules will affect not just his fight with a proposed Sun City dispensary but ultimately whether any of the 126 dispensaries envisioned under the 2010 voter-approved law can operate.
Six already have opened their doors -- three in Tucson and one each in Glendale, Bisbee and Williams -- and would be forced to shutter if the justices agree with Montgomery.
But Montgomery claims the impact would be greater. He contends if the Supreme Court accepts his legal arguments it would wipe out the entire Arizona Medical Marijuana Act.
That would mean not only no more dispensaries but no more individuals given state permission to obtain and ingest the drug. And it would immediately invalidate the nearly 36,000 cards already issued to authorized medical marijuana users.
Jeffrey Kaufman, attorney for the White Mountain Health Center which is at the heart of the dispute, said Friday he has no problem having the case expedited.
The 2010 initiative allows those with a doctor's recommendation to get a card from the state health department allowing them to obtain up to 2 1/2 ounces of marijuana every two weeks. It also envisions state-regulated privately run dispensaries to grow and sell the drug to cardholders.
This dispute flared when White Mountain, seeking to locate in the unincorporated area of Sun City, sought the necessary certification from Maricopa County that the site was properly zoned. Montgomery instructed county officials not to respond, contending that would make them guilty of violating federal laws which still prohibit not just the possession and sale of marijuana but doing anything to facilitate either. And he argued those federal laws supersede the Arizona law.
But Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Michael Gordon last month ruled there is no conflict and ordered the county to provide the required zoning information. He said nothing in the state statute precludes federal agents from arresting Arizonans who violate federal law.
In seeking to overturn Gordon's ruling, Montgomery told Capitol Media Services he is not limiting his arguments to dispensaries.
"You start with the very basic premise that the distribution, cultivation and use of marijuana as set forth in Arizona's Medical Marijuana Act is in direct violation of federal law,'' he said.
"The way the Controlled Substances Act is written means states can't authorize prohibited conduct,'' he said. Montgomery said for the court to rule on whether county officials are facilitating the violation of federal law means the justices have to address the entire question of federal preemption.
"If a court were to simply say, 'You're not allowed to dispense it because that's preempted,' the basis for that preemption would necessarily have to apply to all the other elements of the Medical Marijuana Act,'' he said. "I don't see how a court could say, 'We're going to address dispensaries and let everything else stand.' ''
But Dan Pochoda of the Arizona chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, pointed out that the facts before Gordon -- the case on appeal -- deal specifically with the question of whether the county would be facilitating the violation of federal laws in providing the zoning information. Pochoda said the Supreme Court may decide to limit any decision strictly to that issue rather than making a sweeping ruling.
If Montgomery wins but the court limits its decision to the dispensaries, that creates a different dynamic.
The Arizona law says cardholders have to buy their drugs from the licensed dispensaries -- but only if they are located within 25 miles of one of the shops.
Right now, with dispensaries in the Tucson and Phoenix areas, that covers most of the state's population. But if the court requires dispensaries to shut down, then no cardholder would be within 25 miles of a dispensary and all would be free to grow their own.
downtownresident posted at 4:25 pm on Sun, Jan 27, 2013.
BM,
Is anybody in your office working on real crime?
Or, are you all obsessed with decimating Demon Weed?
trying2liveat57 posted at 10:44 pm on Sun, Jan 27, 2013.
agree, any real crime around? Medical marijuana HELPS very, very sicj people. I have seen a child ( 23 years old ) go from opiates for pain, 2 only medical marijuana & he is doing great! To me, that is saying an awful lot, who is missing his bowels, and a few other things, which needn't be discussed here. Leave the medical marijuana for the real patients who rely on it daily, to help keep them well , another day!
Hear Me Now posted at 4:03 am on Mon, Jan 28, 2013.
The people have spoken, and not just once. This has has been voted on several times and passed yet the politicians chose to try to subvert the will of the people. No, you do not know better than, we the people. Another way that the county attorney could ease the peoples pain would be to leave office.
malcolmkyle posted at 8:05 am on Mon, Jan 28, 2013.
Prohibitionists like Bill Montgomery literally don't give a d*** about the welfare of individual citizens. That's you, me, and everyone you care about. They don't even care when their failed policy puts their own families in danger by destroying the economy and bank-rolling criminals and terrorists. The prohibitionist onslaught appears to be simply a war directed at all of us.
America, it is time to wake up! Prohibition is a cultural and economic assault on your money, on your careers, on your ability to put food on the table, have shelter, cloth yourself, and even survive or self-medicate. The fiscal cliff isn't the crisis—Prohibitionist control over America's politics and government is!
During alcohol prohibition, all profits went to enrich criminals and corrupt politicians. Young men died every day on inner-city streets while battling over turf. A fortune was wasted on enforcement that could have gone on education, etc. On top of the budget-busting prosecution and incarceration costs, billions in taxes were lost. Finally, the economy collapsed. Sound familiar?
Prohibitionists, and their criminal friends who live in a crack-house called Congress, are having a ball and it's all on our tab.
Arizona Willie posted at 12:57 pm on Mon, Jan 28, 2013.
The Gang of Four ( Brewer, Horne, Montgomery, Kavanaugh ) should be prosecuted for Abuse of Power. Nothing in the State Constitution gives them the authority to interfere with a validly enacted state law because they don't like it. Nothing gives them authority to spend Millions of taxpayer dollars on lawsuit after lawsuit ( every one of which they have lost ) trying to overturn a valid law they don't like.
DaveKAz posted at 3:39 pm on Mon, Jan 28, 2013.
It is unjust for the Gang of Four to use the courts to deny medicine to those who report that they benefit. Is it necessary for the voters in Arizona to pass a resolution to regulate marijuana like alcohol for patients to obtain a natural herbal medicine that has worked for people around the world for thousands of years? I understand that a recent poll showed that six out of ten voters in Arizona would support an initiative to regulate marijuana like alcohol.
PeacefulCat posted at 5:41 pm on Mon, Jan 28, 2013.
Time to rid those who do not work on the will of the people to be fired.