Arizona’s Medical Marijuana Laws

Arizona’s Medical Marijuana Laws

In November 2010 Arizona passed the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act (AMMA) which outlines the regulations for medical marijuana.2 The act designated the Arizona Department of Health Services as the department to come up with the rules and components of the medical marijuana program and to come up with registration and oversight for medical marijuana dispensaries.3 In order to use medical marijuana, you need to be a qualifying patient. Adults can fill out an online application form complete with an attestation form when you are applying for a certification or registration identification card.4 You will need to provide identifying information (such as your name, gender, address, and phone number) as well as whether or not you are requesting authorization to cultivate marijuana plants.5

Arizona has debated whether or not this law provides a sort of immunity to those who drive when they lawfully use medical marijuana. In 2013 the Arizona Court of Appeals has said that there is not a blanket immunity from DUI prosecution if you have a marijuana chemical compound in your body.6 Thus, if you are driving after using medical marijuana you could still be charged under DUI laws that ban having a prohibited compound in your body.7 In this case an Arizona man was pulled over for making unsafe lane changes and charged under Arizona statutes for driving while under the influence of any drug to the slightest degree and for driving with a metabolite in his body because he had “smoked some weed.”8 While the first charge was dismissed, the metabolite charge remained.9 The reasoning behind Judge Michael Brown’s decision was that the medical marijuana statute did not contain specific language concerning protecting medical marijuana users from being punished for driving under the effects of the marijuana metabolite.10

However, this ruling was later reversed in April when the court determined that the phrase “its metabolite” in the Arizona statute was ambiguous and subject to different interpretations.11 The court found that including marijuana metabolites that do not cause impairment is absurd because it would create criminal liability no matter how long the metabolite was in the driver’s system and whether it had any impairing effect.12 The Arizona Supreme Court went on to reference how the AMMA legalized medical marijuana, and thus such usage is legal and should not be criminally prosecuted under Arizona DUI laws.13