Arizona Governor Will Allow Dispensaries Now that Lawsuit Was Dismissed

A lawsuit brought on by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer to seek clarification on the Federal stance of allowing dispensaries in her state was dismissed by a federal judge earlier this month. Governor Brewer had put the dispensary provision of her states medical marijuana law on hold, and not allowed them to get licensed to operate to give the state time to sue for assurance that a state employee who may be filling out a dispensary applications in accordance with the law would not be criminally prosecuted  for drug trafficking.

A federal judge ruled to not even hear the case. tossing it out because the state could not show an imminent threat to any state employee. Since the case was tossed out, Governor Brewer had only addressed it through a spokesperson, who on the day of the ruling said that it was unfortunate that the federal court had just told them they would have to wait for a state employee to be prosecuted before the state’s law suit would be heard. That was back on January 5th. Finally, Governor Brewer said that she will no longer pursue the court case, and will direct the states’ Health Department to begin accepting and processing applications from those seeking to run marijuana dispensaries. She made her statement through an email. She also admitted that she was a well known opponent of Prop 203 in Arizona to allow medical marijuana, and remains concerned about the potential abuses of the law.

The 67 year old Republican said that her concerns over prosecution of state employees were legitimate, and she wont hesitate to halt the states involvement in the program if she receives any indication that a state employees might face prosecution due to administering the law. According to the law, there can be up to 125 dispensaries in the state.

External Links:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-13/arizona-s-brewer-to-abandon-marijuana-lawsuit-allow-dispensaries-to-open.html