Arizona Filing Lawsuit To Clarify Medical Marijuana Act

PHOENIX (Reuters) - Arizona will file a lawsuit in federal court to learn whether a controversial medical marijuana law passed by voters last November is legal, Arizona's governor said on Tuesday.

Republican Governor Jan Brewer said the state will file the court action by Friday to make sure that Arizona does not put state workers and consumers in jeopardy as it implements its voter-sanctioned Medical Marijuana Act.

The decision to seek clarification comes after the U.S. Attorney for Arizona, Dennis Burke, warned in a letter to state health officials earlier this month that the cultivation, sale and distribution of marijuana is still against federal law and subject to prosecution.

In it, Burke said he would "vigorously prosecute individuals and organizations that participate in unlawful manufacturing, distribution and marketing activity involving marijuana, even if such activities are permitted under state law."

Brewer said she wants to follow voter's wishes, but remains concerned.

"I won't stand aside while state employees and average Arizonans acting in good faith are unwittingly put at risk," she said in a prepared statement released Tuesday.

"In light of the explicit warnings on this issue offered by Arizona's U.S. Attorney, as well as many other federal prosecutors, clarity and judicial direction are in order," she added.

Arizona became the 15th state in the nation to approve medical marijuana. Last November, voters gave the go-ahead to a ballot measure by a razor-thin margin.

The state has been accepting applications from individuals seeking to used marijuana for medical purposes since April.

Figures show that 3,696 people have been given cards to use marijuana for a range of medical problems, with the bulk of the users approved because of chronic pain.

The legal action also comes as the state readied to accept applications statewide on June 1 for those seeking to dispense the drug under the new law. There will be 125 dispensaries allowed under Arizona Department of Health Service rules.

Officials have said the dispensaries would start operating in late September or early October. But a governor's aide told Reuters that Brewer wants to put the dispensary part of the law on hold pending a decision on the legal case.

(Editing by Tim Gaynor and Jerry Norton)

Copyright 2010 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.

Comments

[David Kessler]

07:33 PM on 05/27/2011

The majority of the United States Supreme Court has concluded the preemption clause of the federal Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. [*803] §§ 801-904) shows that Congress explicitly contemplated a role for the states in regulating controlled substances, including permitting the states latitude to continue their historic role of regulating medical practices. The actions of a state in the licensing of dispensaries have never been viewed as a conspiracy to manufacture or distribute marijuana any more than a doctor's recommendation. There is nothing new in the federal attorney's letter. Governor Brewer and her puppet attorney are wasting taxpayer money, defying the will of the voters, avoiding the real problems in our state, and once again demonstrating a barbaric glee in going after those who are less fortunate in our state. We judge societies by the way they treat the most unfortunate of their members but this is not a tact taken by our governor or her puppet attorney, to them, they are targets. Unfortunately, this is how others will once again view our state. Perhaps the recall effort is the only way that governor Brewer will learn to respect the voters in our state.

[Montana Biotech]

02:21 PM on 05/27/2011

This is such BULL SH*T!!! SHE SCREAMS STATES RIGHT TO BE A BIGOT, BUT NOT FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA!!!!! Get those "illegals"!!! Round em UP!!! Yee HAAA!!!

Watch the Growing Green Show, LIVE STREAMING: http://tinyurl.com/3cfthnj

[bad dream]

07:14 PM on 05/25/2011

breaking news------- three bill intro,d in congress today to protect patience and providers
A bipartisan group of legislators introduced three bills in Congress on Wednesday which, for the first time in history, would federally protect and support medical marijuana patients and providers in states where the use of medical marijuana is legal.
http://www.tokeofthetown.com/2011/05/bill_to_protect_marijuana_patientsproviders_introd.php#more

[notasonata]

04:20 PM on 05/25/2011

opps, wrong story..

[notasonata]

04:19 PM on 05/25/2011

Gee, when Bushy was in office he kept people like this woman from even entering the area to ask unscripted questions. How far we've come!

[notasonata]

04:09 PM on 05/25/2011

She has the look of a rattle snake, ready to strike. One scary CONservative, you betcha!

[David Kessler]

07:38 PM on 05/27/2011

When you are dealing with a rattler you have to watch the actions, not listen to the words. You're right, one very scary CONservative. Support the recall effort.

[captained50]

04:07 PM on 05/25/2011

Brewer should be sued... for her ugly face and vile persona.

[kclz2420]

03:53 PM on 05/25/2011

So it's ok if "the people" want to toss out anyone who is "reasonably suspicious," but Jan Brewer just needs to punish anyone who wants to grow a plant and sell it to someone else?

And of course, it would be for their "protection" from federal authorities. Lol, that's a big joke. The US Attorney General already issued a memorandum saying the feds would no longer prosecute dispensaries legally operating within their home states.

What a police state Arizona is becoming.

[Jack Davies]

04:24 PM on 05/25/2011

Um, Jan Brewer is supporting the law, not the people going against it....

[kclz2420]

05:36 PM on 05/25/2011

Um, wrong...

"Although Arizona’s new medical marijuana has already partially gone into effect, Gov. Jan Brewer and Attorney General Tom Horne announced Tuesday they will file suit in federal district court on Friday, asking for clarification on the program, and that they are looking to halt it from moving forward.

The suit will ask a federal judge to decide if Arizona’s new law violates federal laws, despite the U.S. Justice Department’s current stance that it will not pursue state-law-abiding participants of medical marijuana programs throughout the U.S."

AZ Capitol Times, May 24th.

The feds do not have an interest prosecuting dispensaries legally in operation in states where medical marijuana laws are on the books. All she wants is to have a judge find that the new law violates federal law, which gives her an excuse to clamp down on the law through ridiculously onerous regulation.

She's not "supporting the law." State's generally don't generally challenge lawsuits they "support" in federal court.

[iLoveOldNY]

03:50 PM on 05/25/2011

I don't understand right wingers. They know there has always been pot around anyway.
Since DEA started 'going after' marijuana, its use has actually grown.

In fact, currently, by age 50, 57% of us will have used or still use marijuana.

http://www.alcohol-and-drug-guide.com/marijuana-use-usa.html

Are 57% of us criminals? How can the majority of anything or anyone do something illegal in a democracy?

Big Government is deciding for us? Well that costs a fortune and it has failed.

[ObamAtomic]

03:24 PM on 05/25/2011

She is complicated,she wants state rights to carry her immigration bill,but, wants to ignore
the will of the voters.

How many suit Arizona state filed in federal court every month with taxpayer money?

[rainkitty]

03:22 PM on 05/25/2011

6 Crazy Laws Right-Wingers Are Blowing Your Money On:
"The costs of violating citizens' rights can really add up. And yet, after promising to slash government spending, conservatives in a dozen state houses across the country are apparently willing to break the bank defending their fringe policies in court. In some cases, they believe they might get an activist conservative majority on the Supreme Court to overturn decades of precedent and support their laws, but in others they're simply prepared to waste millions of tax dollars to litigate wacky legislation that has zero chance of being upheld."
http://tinyurl.com/3fhht4y

[lightnessandjoy]

03:20 PM on 05/25/2011

The Department of Justice going after poker players and pot. They've sure got their priorities straight. Wall Street fraud, corporate fraud, organized crime - what, me worry?

[bad dream]

03:01 PM on 05/25/2011

Federal lawyers are not doctors and they are not my guardian when it comes to my body and what is best for me when I am in pain or dying.

Why do they want to tell us what we can or cannot use to fight pain and suffering?

First it was Bush and Terry Schiavo and now it is Obama and Eric Holder and his legions of lawyers who want to impose their evil will upon Americans in business they do not belong in.

These lawyers are NOT my doctor, they have no business telling us what we can and cannot do when it comes to doctor and patient relationsh­ips and what the prescribed remedy is.

[Efrain Rojas]

02:56 PM on 05/25/2011

She looks like she's seen many a tour bus in the seventies. Don't tell me she never lit up.

[bad spelling grammar]

02:54 PM on 05/25/2011

"Brewer said she wants to follow voter's wishes, but remains concerned.:

If she wants to follow what the results of the votes stated, then she would back there decision to legalize marijuana for medical patients since the vote PASSED. This is just the last attempts of an R state official trying to impose their personal will against the democratic process of voting. Just because your voters/residents voted a decision that you don’t agree with doesn’t give you the right to try and overturn it. That’s what DICTATORS do; they disregard the vote of the majority and just do whatever they want because they have no respect for democracy or the people who occupy the region. I feel bad for the pot smokers of Arizona but then again they should realize what kind of state they live in.

[bad dream]

03:19 PM on 05/25/2011

they should really watch who they vote for.

[David Kessler]

07:44 PM on 05/27/2011

Support the recall of Jan Brewer!