Arizona’s 2010 medical marijuana law does not include extracts of marijuana — dubbed “hashish”, the appellate court ruled. This decision impacts Arizona Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in more than one way.
Source: Court to Arizona Medical Extract Users: Watch Your Back! | Leafly
This week, the Arizona Appeals Court ruled that The Arizona Medical Marijuana Act in no way immunizes the possession or use of hashish. “Hashish” (cannabis oil or resins). What does this mean for Arizona medical marijuana dispensaries?
The Arizona Department of Health Services (AZDHS) had previously allowed concentrate sales, and numerous large-scale commercial kitchens and extract manufacturers are operating statewide to supply more than 100 dispensaries.
Both the rules and interpretation of them have been muddied by poor cannabis vocabulary.
AZDHS has tracked three types of cannabis products over the last 7 years:
marijuana,
marijuana edibles and
marijuana other.
Dispensaries are now struggling to figure out, what other products, besides marijuana can be sold.
The Act defines marijuana as the flower of cannabis, not including root balls, sticks, stems or leaves. The court has ruled that it also does not included hashish, which is the extracted oils produced by cannabis.
Since the Act does not acknowledge the significance of various cannabis compounds, such as cannabinoids: CBD or THC, this would appear to include CBD oils commonly used by medical patients pursuing medicinal relief without any psychoactive effects.
The decision was offered as a result of the appeal of a 24 year old Arizona Patient who was found guilty of possessing his medication, purchased from an Arizona State License Dispensary and within the allowed amount of marijuana in compliance with the Act. He was sentenced to two years in prison for the cannabis oil and another year for possession of paraphernalia (the tool used to consume his medicine).
AZ Court Ruling on ConcentratesThis ruling should invoke fear in all patients in Arizona consuming edibles, made from cannabis oil and various other forms of administration including vape oils, syringe applicators, tinctures, topical and edibles.
The Dispensary’s will likely be required to seize operations for and sales of marijuana products produced with extract including edibles and other marijuana.
It has hard to predict the total impact on sales, but this will likely at least mean hundreds of jobs lost and that many patients, unable or unwilling to smoke marijuana flower will be out of medicine.
A May 2018 report by AZDHS shows that edibles and product other than marijuana flower made up for 62,783 ounces of the 727,969.65 ounces sold.
We would expect Arizona’s Dispensary Owners and Patients to rally to fight this gross and pointless interpretation. After 8 years of planning, operating, selling and consuming cannabis extracts, Arizona will feel the pain of this unjust prohibition.
We are prepared to fight the good fight with the industry and patients of Arizona.
