The question of whether Arizona’s voter-approved medical marijuana law will ever be implemented continues to be debated.
While federal courts weigh the legality of Arizona’s marijuana law, and those of 15 other states, lawmakers in those states are looking for ways to get marijuana into the hands of chronic pain and cancer patients.
Led by the governors of Rhode Island and Washington, four states have asked the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to shift marijuana from being a Schedule 1 drug to the less restricted Schedule 2 listing.
Under a Schedule 1 drug designation, it’s a federal felony to sell, possess or transport marijuana, and the drug is not considered to have any legitimate medical uses.
Removing marijuana to the Schedule 2 roster would mean it would still be a controlled substance, but would no longer be banned. Removing the banned label would allow doctors to prescribe the drug and pharmacies to distribute it, eliminating the need for pot dispensaries.
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has said she will not be joining with other governors to push for the reclassification, according to Capitol Media Services, even though the change could keep state workers from being prosecuted for issuing dispensary permits, a long-held concern of Brewer’s.
The specter of federal law trumping state law and opening up government employees for federal prosecution has kept Brewer from enacting Arizona’s marijuana law by issuing operating licenses to dispensaries.
She said reclassifying marijuana as a Schedule 2 drug doesn’t lift the risk of federal punishments, because Arizona’s law calls for dispensaries, not pharmacies.
“Adopting a schedule (for) narcotics is not going to change the dispensary issue,” Capitol Media Services quoted Brewer as saying.
In the face of yet another impasse, Rep. John Fillmore, R-Apache Junction, is proposing a different approach. He has drafted legislation to make possession of up to an ounce of marijuana a misdemeanor, rather than the current felony charge, punishable by a fine of not more than $500.
Fillmore has said he doesn’t believe the state’s medical marijuana law is ever going to be implemented, so he believes the punishment for using the drug should simply be less punitive.
He said he doesn’t think marijuana possession should be a felony, and his bill would lessen the consequences for those caught with the drug.
Fillmore’s girlfriend is a colon cancer survivor, and he doesn’t believe she should have to worry about going to prison for using marijuana.
Fillmore’s bill, HB2044, will be presented in the 2012 legislative session, which convenes later this month.
