Now she’s really gone and done it.
By “she,” I mean Arizona’s fine and esteemed Gov. Jan Brewer, and by “it,” I mean launched the state toward full implementation of the voter-passed Medical Marijuana Act. Now that two judges—one federal, one Superior Court—have scolded Gov. Jan into doing what we told her to do more than a year ago, she has decided to start taking applications from hopeful MMJ dispensary operators.
That might seem like a good thing to most people on the pot side of the legal fence, but as I often try to do, I will help you fully consider some of the possibilities.
It has always been interesting to me that Gov. Jan didn’t block the entire Arizona Medical Marijuana Act—she blocked part of it. She could have just as easily and brazenly ordered the Department of Health Services to put the entire law on hold, citing the risk of federal prosecution of her beloved constituents. But she only blocked dispensaries. Why? Let’s speculate.
Let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that Gov. Jan is actually smart, maybe even very smart, and that Attorney General Tom Horne is likewise smart. I’ve voiced this suspicion before. Let’s also assume that they don’t want federal agents gettin’ all up in their shit all the time, waving guns around and stealing all of Joe Arpaio’s thunder with flashy, carpet-bagger federal cop raids and operations and such.
A few months ago, after a question from a U.S. representative from Colorado, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said his agency won’t make prosecution of MMJ facility operators a high priority in states with highly regulated MMJ systems. Two of Arizona’s MMJ neighbors—Colorado and California—have been in the news in recent months because of federal threats. Both have lots of rules concerning who can open MMJ dispensaries and how to operate them. But neither state has the kind of restriction Arizona does on the number of dispensaries.
In Colorado, where there are roughly 5 million people, there were more than 700 dispensaries last fall, according to a count by The Denver Post. Denver is a circus of MMJ sale and distribution. So is Los Angeles, with about 10 million people and more than 500 dispensaries, despite a supposed crackdown by the city, which hopes to limit the number to fewer than 100.
In Arizona, where we have about 6.5 million people, the law will allow just 125 dispensaries. That limit will surely help us avoid raids.
But how many dispensaries would the feds raid if we didn’t have any? Zero. It’s possible that Gov. Jan was on to something, even if she stumbled onto it in the dark on her way to slam shut the MMJ barn door. Maybe she was protecting the MMJ community of the great state of Arizona, whether she originally intended to or not. Federal raids hurt people, and I choose to believe Jan Brewer and Tom Horne are actual human beings, possibly even smart ones, and that they do care whether people get arrested.
So maybe they were doing the right thing, even if their original intent was to get all up in my shit and start hacking and slashing away at agreements—written agreements—between my government and me.
In the end, I remain skeptical of the overall value of MMJ dispensaries and urge extreme caution. Get out your maps, dispensary-planners, and make sure you aren’t selling and/or distributing or causing to be sold or distributed any marijuana or marijuana-infused substances in a way that will piss off the U.S. Department of Justice—or Gov. Jan, for that matter.
Be intimately familiar with the law. Look it up. Read it carefully. Follow it to the letter, where possible. Call people like Thomas Dean, Arizona’s experienced marijuana attorney (his words). He has represented and advised many of the people at the forefront of Arizona’s MMJ fight.
And for God’s sake, don’t sell MMJ near any schools.
This article appears in Jan 26 – Feb 1, 2012.
Any scenario involving Brewer and Horne being smart and/or compassionate can be classified as science fiction. On the other hand, it is good to consider the inadvertent positive effects of their actions, no matter how stupid and/or evil their true motivations may have been.
Wish we would be the first state to ‘LEGALIZE MMJ” Not just for Medical purposes. sigh.
I what to know if an authorized Cultivate will fall into a Grandfather clause? Now that I have invested time and money to supply myself w/my MMJ. I don’t think they have a right to take that away from us the next time we renew our MMJ card.
Plus you don’t know what you are ingesting when you buy from a dispensary. What toxic stuff are they using on what they are growing? What are they going to do arrest an Old Man who is near end of life.
“And for God’s sake, don’t sell MMJ near any schools.”
If you had any doubts about whether this thing was written by a hypocritical bigot, that ended it right there. It is the grand flourish at the end.
What’s he upset about? It seems to be the great danger to children posed by marijuana. Think of the Children!
Why is that so stupid in this particular case? Let’s start with the dangers of children. The approximate number of deaths from drugs in the US in a typical year is as follows:
Tobacco – 400,000
Alcohol – 100,000
All the illegal drugs combined, from all causes – fewer than 20,000
Marijuana – 0
In short, any modern child is about 25 times as likely to wind up dying from alcohol or tobacco than from any illegal drug. Not only that, but alcohol wins in all the other categories of problems, too. Alcohol accounts for about half of all deaths from homicide, suicide, fires, drownings, and auto accidents. It accounts for about half of all domestic abuse and two-thirds of all sexual assaults on children. By some estimates, it accounts for up to forty percent of inpatient hospital care. According to the US DOJ, it is the ONLY drug with any real connection to drug-induced violent crime.
Now look around your city. How many schools can you find where there is a store selling alcohol and/or tobacco right near a school? I am not familiar with Tuscon, but I can think of a number of schools that I have seen that are directly across the street from convenience stores, shopping centers, grocery stores, and other places selling booze.
The author simply demonstrates that he really knows nothing about the subject. But it sure makes a good mindless rant, doesn’t it? Now he can go puff his chest out and feel proud because he is protecting the kids.
Tell you what, J.M.
It is painfully obvious that you really don’t know much about this subject, so let me give you some good references so you can come up to date.
You can find the short history of the marijuana laws at http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/History/wh… This is funny and fascinating. It is not what you expected.
You can find an excellent history of the drug laws in general at http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/st… If you haven’t read this book then you really don’t know the subject. It explains what has caused more drug epidemics among US kids than anything else.
You can find the largest study of the marijuana laws ever done at http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/st… This was Nixon’s commission and it still stands as the most comprehensive review of the marijuana laws ever.
That will get you started. Come back when you have a basic understanding of the absolute lunacy that produced these laws. Then we can discuss the rest.
Er, sorry you missed the sarcasm in that last note – it’s a jab at the SUPPOSED dangers presented by having, selling or growing marijuana near schools. I was only suggesting that dispensary planners not sell near schools to avoid federal raids, such as the ones threatened in Colorado against dispensaries near schools. Would you suggest investors spend a couple hundred thousand dollars setting up a dispensaries in places that would subject them to an increased risk of federal raid? I wouldn’t.
If you read my previous column (http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/the-lio…), you will see that I know quite well where kids get marijuana – from other kids. They do not get it from nearby dispensaries or from their parents who might have shopped there. I do not think a dispensary near a school presents any risk whatsoever to kids, any more than Walgreens presents a risk that they will get oxycodone.
In any event, thanks for the links to your website.
I shall get my sarcasm meter adjusted and check out your other work. Thanks.