Friday, May 29, 2015
The ruling resulted in the dismissal of a marijuana-for-sale case involving Jeremy Allen Matlock of Tucson and caught the attention of prosecutors around the state. Marijuana activists and criminal defendants were buoyed by Fields' ruling, hoping their own cases would be tossed out.As long as there is no exchange of values, you can share your medical cannabis with other cardholders.
The 2010 law calls for state-regulated dispensaries that are now in place across Arizona. But Matlock, with his public defender, attorney David Euchner, argued that the law grants patients the right to sell to other patients in two separate sections.
Before the first dispensaries opened in Arizona, operators of compassion clubs and would-be independent cannabis dealers set up shop themselves on basically the same premise used in the Matlock case. A lawsuit on the matter filed by former state AG Tom Horne fizzled without resolving the legal question of patient-to-patient sales. Some continue to operate under the theory that such sales are legal, despite successful prosecutions — so far only through plea deals — of unauthorized cannabis dealers. The new opinion makes such operations even dicier.
Tags: medical marijuana , arizona , tucson , medical marijuana act , phoenix news times , ray stern