Federal attorneys asked a judge on Monday to throw out a lawsuit filed by Gov. Jan Brewer seeking a ruling about the legality of the state’s medical marijuana law.
Deputy U.S. Attorney Scott Risner said there is no legal basis for the lawsuit. Risner told U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton in legal papers filed in her court that, absent some actual threat of prosecution under federal drug laws by his office, the question is purely academic and therefore not a proper subject for litigation.
But state Attorney General Tom Horne, who filed the lawsuit in May on the governor’s behalf, said Risner is telling only part of the story.
The fight surrounds the decision by Arizona voters last year to set up a system allowing those with a doctor’s recommendation and a state-issued ID card to purchase marijuana from state-regulated dispensaries.
Since that time, several federal prosecutors, including Dennis Burke, the U.S. Attorney for Arizona, warned that possession and sale of the drug remains illegal under federal law. Brewer then directed Horne to ask a federal court whether Arizona could implement its program anyway.
In the interim, the state health department, at Brewer’s direction, decided not to license any dispensaries, though they have continued to certify patients as medical marijuana users.
Risner said the problem with Horne’s lawsuit is that no state employee involved in issuing licenses — those that Brewer said she was most concerned about — is facing prosecution.
But Horne said that’s not exactly true.
He pointed out that federal prosecutors, in their letters to state officials in Arizona and elsewhere, essentially said that medical marijuana users have nothing to fear. It’s what those letters did not say, Horne said, which amounts to a threat.
“They gave no assurance to state employees, they gave no assurance to dispensaries,’’ he said.
“And they said they were going to vigorously prosecute anyone who is involved in the distribution of marijuana,’’ Horne continued, a category that could include state workers. “What unbelievable hypocrites!’’
Horne also brushed aside Risner’s argument that there can be no risk of prosecution to state health workers since they are neither accepting nor processing applications from those who want to operate dispensaries.
“We asked for the court decision and we said we’ll hold it up until there is a court decision,’’ Horne complained. He called it “sophistry’’ for the Department of Justice to now argue that the state, by putting the license-issuing process on hold, is now not entitled to a ruling on the very issue that is holding up the process in the first place.
Risner did not return a call to his office seeking comment.
It’s not just the Department of Justice trying to have the governor’s lawsuit dismissed. Would-be dispensary operators and the American Civil Liberties Union are making similar arguments in their own legal filings.
Bolton has not set a date for a hearing.
DaveKAz posted at 6:38 pm on Sun, Aug 7, 2011.
The rest of the country has Cheech and Chong. In Arizona, we have the Horne and Brewer show. Almost funny if their cruel and vicious actions did not impact so many Arizonans who are less fortunate than the governor. In the spirit of Symington and Mecham, we need to get rid of these fools and find real politicians who are willing to represent all of the people of our fine state. Where's the jobs Jan?
Arizona Willie posted at 11:31 am on Wed, Aug 3, 2011.
Under the Arizona Constitution, Governor Brewer has NO AUTHORITY to tell state employees not to issue dispensary licenses as called for in the valid state law that was passed.
The employees have NO AUTHORITY to decide on their own they will not issue the licenses.
The Governor should be prosecuted and the state employees who refuse to issue licenses to the dispensaries should be fired.
The Governor is committing a crime by telling state employees to refuse to do their duty under the law.
The employees are also committing a crime in refusing to perform their duties and should be fired at the minimum.
jway86 posted at 1:57 pm on Tue, Aug 2, 2011.
I believe that the cartels and drug dealers are very happy with the current situation. Right now, 100% of the marijuana purchased in Arizona comes from illegal sources. And the cartels and drug dealers would very much like to keep it that way.
It's impossible to eliminate marijuana use in this country and if there's one thing we've learned it's that unrelenting demand and zero legal supply is a *major* recipe for disaster! It should be up to the Governor and federal government to protect us from this situation.
We need legal adult marijuana sales in supermarkets, gas stations and pharmacies for exactly the same reason that we need legal alcohol and tobacco sales - to keep drug-dealing criminals out of our neighborhoods and away from our children. Marijuana must be made legal to sell to adults everywhere that alcohol and tobacco are sold.
seabourne posted at 6:33 pm on Mon, Aug 1, 2011.
If the body is low on cannabinoids, just as with any other deficiency, the body does not function correctly since the endocannabinoid system regulates all other systems in the body. Misinformation has done much damage over the last 73 years as has the war on a plant and those who use it. Cannabis has continually been shown to be a remarkable anti-inflammatory which could be of great help to the 86 million people that suffer chronic pain. No one ever died from cannabis/marijuana though much suffering has taken place from the prohibition of it. It is time to end this travesty.
Lack of cannabinoids - can cause cancer, digestive ailments, migrains, fibromyalgia, just to name a few. We are now generations into cannabinoid deprivation and the health consequences are showing.
It makes no sense at all that some states have medicinal use and others do not. The time has come for the nation to stand together and demand change! VOTE! Vote for cannabis friendly only candidates. Sign petitions, be heard loud and clear.
Tell your Congressional Representatives -
It is time to "Change the Schedule of Cannabis, Cannabis Laws, and Drug Czar Laws"
Read and Sign the petition at
http://www.change.org/petitions/change-the-schedule-of-cannabis-cannabis-laws-and-drug-czar-laws
After you sign the petition, email your friendlies, share on facebook, or twitter from the petition page. If you have a website grab the widget so your visitors can sign it without leaving your website.
This petition uses laws passed by Congress to point out that by their laws, the laws must change.