- Pace LaVia
Arizona Supreme Court ruling ends a five-year argument over medical marijuana extracts
Five years ago, Arizona resident and medical marijuana patient Rodney Jones was arrested for the possession of a mere five one-hundredths of an ounce of hash. In 2016 he was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for drug possession. Last year, an Arizona appeals court upheld that conviction on the grounds that extracts and concentrates of cannabis are not covered under the state’s medical marijuana laws.
The case eventually made its way to the Arizona Supreme Court. The outcome of the case, which was being watched diligently by cannabis advocates nationwide, could literally mean life or death for some medical marijuana patients in the state.
Tuesday, the court ruled in Jone’s favor ending the five-year-long debate and bringing relief to thousands of patients—and stakeholders—under the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act.