Back in the day, there was a game called Tip It.
It had this 4-inch-tall plastic man perched precariously on his nose, with his arms and legs extended, atop a foot-tall frame balanced on a tabletop base. Players took turns carefully placing little plastic discs on the teetering frame, tipping it back and forth, tilting the little man bit by bit until he fell.
If you topple the man, you’re out.
Well, it seems Gov. Jan and her crew may have toppled their medical-marijuana man, and they might be out of the game. A federal judge seemingly ripped the state a new one on Dec. 12 in the first oral arguments in the governor’s lawsuit that stalled Arizona’s MMJ program.
U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton wasn’t too happy with the state, essentially telling Assistant Attorney General Lori Davis that her boss, Tom Horne, can’t just waltz into federal court to ask if he has a case. Bolton was none too kind in telling Davis that it’s the attorney general’s job to advise on the legality of state programs, not a federal judge’s job.
“She just berated her,” said Al Sobol of Scottsdale, who was the first defendant to sign on to the case, and who also sued the state to allow his dispensaries.
In the lawsuit, Brewer prays (literally) that the court will tell her if the state MMJ program provides a haven from federal prosecution, and let her know the rights and duties of plaintiffs and defendants under the program.
Hmmmm. Seems pretty simple, Gov. Jan: It’s the defendants’ right to open their dispensaries, in accordance with state Department of Health Services regulations and in the spirit of the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act. Lest we forget, rights are not optional. If you have a right to something, it’s unequivocal.
Duties are less sure, as we have seen from Gov. Jan’s refusal to carry out the MMJ program. It’s her duty as governor to carry out the wishes of her constituents, of which I am one, who passed the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act in an open, free and democratic election. I’m sorry you didn’t like it when we passed the act, Jan, but now it’s your duty to carry it out.
And clearly, the federal court does not intend to tell Brewer what to do, so Bolton threatened to dismiss the lawsuit entirely. Gov. Jan responded a few days later by showing her true colors and saying that she thinks federal law pre-empts state law. In other words, she declined to stand behind the voters of Arizona.
That case ties into other news from just days before the Phoenix court appearance. During a grilling over the failed Fast and Furious gun-tracking adventure, U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder why there haven’t been any federal MMJ raids in Colorado, while California has had many.
Can Colorado expect raids, Polis asked?
Holder responded that his department is unlikely to prosecute dispensaries in states that regulate MMJ, and where the dispensaries follow state rules.
“Given our limited resources, that would not be an enforcement priority for the Justice Department,” Holder said.
So it seems our esteemed U.S. attorney general, Eric the Great, has answered prayers in the state of Arizona’s lawsuit: Your fears are unfounded, Gov. Jan. It’s highly unlikely anyone will be prosecuted for operating a dispensary in Arizona, if they follow the regulations we have in place.
Sobol thinks it will be months before anyone can open a dispensary, even if the state kicks the chocks out from under the MMJ wheels in the next two weeks (which is unlikely, given that Gov. Jan is now saying she likes federal law more than state law). New business plans and zoning applications would be needed; new leases would need to be arranged.
“All in all, it could be late spring or early summer before those dispensaries are open for business,” Sobol said.
In any event, it seems Horne and Gov. Jan’s balancing act might be coming to an end, that they have put one too many discs on the frame and toppled their MMJ man. The federal courts aren’t likely to save them.
Game over, Gov. Jan.
This article appears in Dec 22-28, 2011.
So last week you suggested buying grow equipment, this week it’s that there might be dispensaries. Will all the new home-growers be able to trade in their new grow-lights for meds at the new dispensaries?
It would seem like growing your own makes more sense, but maybe I’m missing something.
Which side are you on – homegrowers or dispensaries?
Personally, I think growing is the best way to go. I think we could limp along just fine without dispensaries. Caregivers can help folks who don’t grow, and it might avert raids. But a lot of people would rather just stop by a dispensary for meds. So, although I think dispensaries offer an unnecessary risk, we should have them just the way the law says we should.
In this case, Jan thinks federal law preempts state law. But what about SB1070? Does she just get to choose the laws she likes? Maybe all future propositions on the ballot need to start wit the phrase ‘If it’s alright with the Governor’.
I’ll bet if you asked the governor where she stands on the issue of states rights versus the federal government, like most right-wing Republicans and tea party members she would claim to favor states rights. Naturally, in the hypocritical way of the current batch of conservatives, she doesn’t really mean it if it might gore her personal ox.
Home growing is the way to go.
I am glad to hear we the people will have a new, different and fair dance!
(For sure Tom Horne cannot waltz)
Brewer is 100% wrong with this, however, not having these dispensaries is actually a blessing in disguise for the patients.
The law was written to protect the financial interests of a few owners at the expense of the patients they were supposed to serve. However, with no dispensaries open, there are now thousands of people authorized to grow by AZDHS. Collectives, co-ops, clubs, delivery services, etc are popping up, caregivers are out there helping, some even for free… it’s a much more free market, where anyone who qualifies has choices. You can join a collective, get your own caregiver or do it yourself and save a ton. These are people who would have otherwise been forced to buy from one of only 126 possible licensed dispensaries across the entire state.
It’s poetic justice.