Arizona Appellate Court Rules Cannabis Concentrates Are Not Protected Under State's Medical Cannabis Access Law
PHOENIX, AZ A ruling from the Arizona Court of Appeals hasfoundthat the possession of concentrated forms of cannabis resin is not protected by the states voter-initiated medical marijuana access law, the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act.
The 2 to 1decisionupholds the two-and-one-half year prison sentence of a state-registered patient, Rodney Jones, for the possession of 0.05 ounces of hashish.
The majority opined that the legal definition of marijuana in the AMMA does not specifically include extracted resin and that the legislature had previously recognized hashish and marijuana as two distinct forms of cannabis. [B]ut marijuana alone has been singled out for separate treatment under our states.
They added: If the drafters [of the AMMA] wanted to immunize the possession of hashish they should have said so. We cannot conclude that Arizona voters intended to do so.
By contrast, dissenting Judge Kenton Jones opined that AMMA defines marijuana broadly and clearly provides evidence of intent to include hashish. He concluded, The resin extracted from the marijuana plant is part of a plant of the genus of cannabis, just as sap is part ...
