According to Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone, a detention officer was arrested for attempting to bring methamphetamine and fentanyl into the Lower Buckeye Jail in Phoenix, Arizona.

Fox 10 reports that detention officer Andres Salazar faces several drug-related felony counts. A money exchange took place in the parking lot of the jail before Salazar attempted to bring a package containing about 100 pills into the jail.

“This was an ongoing investigation,” Penzone said at a press conference on Jan. 11. “This detention officer was hired in October 2019, recently worked with inmates and some folks on the outside, and attempted to bring fentanyl and methamphetamine into the jail.”

Salazar apparently wasn’t very good at it, a regrettable choice that will impact his future. “We have strong reason to believe this was his first attempt,” the sheriff said.

“This young man, whatever led him to make this decision, will now not only lose his career, but most likely the future that he has for himself is definitely going to be hindered in an adverse way,” Penzone said.

The drug problem is bad: In Maricopa County jails in 2022, 172 inmates were taken to the hospital for overdose or drug-related incidents; 17 in-custody deaths were caused by an overdose, or drugs were a major contributing factor to the deaths; 194 inmates tested positive for some type of drug through a urine sample; and 114 of those inmates tested positive for fentanyl specifically.

The County says that 150 inmate postcards were intercepted in the mailroom that tested positive for being soaked in fentanyl and/or methamphetamine. “Since October 2022, 1,503 detention officers, sergeants and lieutenants were trained to deploy Narcan,” the sheriff said.

A Pattern in the U.S. Criminal Justice System

This kind of thing isn’t unheard of in the criminal justice system: In 2021, Marc Antrim, a former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy, was sentenced for orchestrating a fake drug raid, stealing over half a ton of cannabis and $600,000 in cash from a warehouse. 

Three South Carolina prison guards were arrested in 2018 for smuggling drugs and other contraband into two different correctional institutions. In one of those incidents, a guard attempted to smuggle in 143 grams, or about five ounces of pot into a detention center.

Think that drugs are out of reach in the prison and jail systems? Think again: According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, there are “high” rates of substance use within the criminal justice system. Specifically, some research shows that an estimated 65% percent of the United States prison population has an “active substance abuse disorder,” and they have to get those drugs from somewhere. It’s one of the best arguments to say that drugs won the War on Drugs.

Maricopa County, however, is tackling the problem with some new changes.

Maricopa County Fights Drugs, Corruption in Jail

Penzone is now taking action proactively to prevent incidents like this from happening again under his watch. KTAR News reports that the sheriff announced scanning machines will soon be installed at jailhouses to detect drugs and other contraband entering and exiting the facilities, authorities announced Wednesday.

“I’m at a stage now where I think it’s not only important but appropriate that we purchase scanning machines so that every individual who enters our jail—whether it be staff/volunteers—anybody and everyone who enters into the secured population will be checked to determine if we can mitigate and intercept any potential contraband coming into the jail,” Penzone said.

“If we need to upgrade the entire system in the entire jail system, I’m willing to do that,” Penzone said. “But we’re going to find the one that is the most effective and put it in play in all of our jails as soon as possible.”

Drugs such as fentanyl and methamphetamine rank high in the danger level.

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat facing this nation. “In 2021, a record number of Americans—107,622—died from a drug poisoning or overdose,” the DEA release reads. “Sixty-six percent of those deaths can be attributed to synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.”

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The latest figures to be released by the Arizona Department of Revenue found that taxable medical cannabis sales totaled $31.3 million for October, representing the eighth consecutive month of decline.

Adult-use cannabis sales, on the other hand, amounted to $73.8 million in October, a new high for the state’s recreational pot program. 

Those totals mark the continuation of a trend for the Grand Canyon State’s dual cannabis markets. 

Voters in Arizona legalized medical cannabis in 2010, and sales began two years later. Arizona voters likewise approved a proposal legalizing recreational cannabis in 2020, with sales kicking off in January 2021. 

Medical cannabis sales outpaced recreational sales for the first 11 months of 2021.

In December of that year, adult-use marijuana sales totaled $70,317,105, compared with $57,971,859 in sales for medical marijuana that same month. 

Recreational pot sales have exceeded medical sales every month since. 

As the AZ Mirror noted this week, the “crumbling of the medical program follows a pattern other states have seen with medical markets outpaced by recreational sales in the wake of legalization.”

The outlet has more on the divergent sales trends: 

“The state collects 16% excise tax on recreational sales in addition to the standard sales tax; medical patients pay roughly 6% in state sales tax, levied as a Transaction Privilege Tax on cannabis outlets. Local jurisdictions charge an additional 2% or so for all marijuana sales. One-third of recreational taxes collected are dedicated to community college and provisional community college districts; 31% to public safety — police, fire departments, fire districts, first responders — 25% to the Arizona Highway User Revenue Fund, and 10% to the justice reinvestment fund, dedicated to providing public health services, counseling, job training and other social services for communities that have been adversely affected and disproportionately impacted by marijuana arrests and criminalization. The medical market has continued to bleed both sales and participants, following a trend in some states that have legalized adult-use cannabis years after establishing medical cannabis markets.”

Arizona was one of four states in 2020 where voters approved measures legalizing recreational marijuana sales (Montana, New Jersey and South Dakota were the other three).

The measure, Proposition 207, required the state to “promote the ownership and operation of marijuana establishments and marijuana testing facilities by individuals from communities disproportionately impacted by the enforcement of previous marijuana laws,” a mandate that, among other things, designated the first two dozen dispensary licenses to individuals hailing from communities that have been affected by the War on Drugs.

Arizona’s Department of Health Services required those applicants to participate in classes in order “to ensure that social equity applicants are prepared for the application process and the challenges of running a marijuana business.”

Those classes, per the department, were led by veterans of the cannabis industry, and included “two days of content and education focused on a number of aspects of operating an adult-use marijuana business, including legal requirements, business practices, regulatory compliance, and fundraising, as well as marketing and strategic growth.”

For some prospective marijuana dispensary owners in Arizona, class is now in session. Social equity class, that is. 

It is a provision included in the ballot measure that voters in the state last year legalized recreational pot use for adults. The measure, Proposition 207, called on the state to “promote the ownership and operation of marijuana establishments and marijuana testing facilities by individuals from communities disproportionately impacted by the enforcement of previous marijuana laws.”

What that means in practice: Arizona’s Department of Health Services will award 26 dispensary licenses to individuals from those communities particularly affected by long standing anti-pot laws. 

Per the department: “Social equity license holders will be required to comply with all statutes and rules that govern Adult-Use Marijuana Establishment licenses, including obtaining approval to operate before opening their retail location. Additionally, social equity license holders will be required to develop and implement policies to document how the Marijuana Establishment will provide a benefit to one or more communities disproportionately affected by the enforcement of Arizona’s previous marijuana laws.”

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An analysis from the United States Sentencing Commission found that more than 1,450 people from Arizona were convicted of federal marijuana possession charges between 1992 and 2021, representing more than 20% of the estimated 6,500 such convictions affected by the pardons. California is the only state with more people who will be pardoned under the executive action, with about 1,550 federal convictions for low-level cannabis possession. The only other state with more than 1,000 such convictions was Texas, with 1,015.

It is not clear how many of those with federal marijuana possession convictions also had other convictions that were not covered by the pardons. However, Arizona had the highest number of convictions for simple marijuana possession than any other state since 2015, according to Sentencing Commission information. Approximately 93% of the 500 convictions during that time resulted in prison sentences, the data show.

“For a lot of people out there, I imagine this is a really welcome relief,” said Jonathan Udell, an attorney with the Rose Law Group and acting co-director of Arizona NORML.

“I think there’s a lot of people out there that really feel the sting of being branded a non-law-abiding citizen,” he continued. “And this sends a very big message to those people that you’re not a bad person because you smoked a plant one time that grew out of the ground or possessed some grass in your pocket.”

Biden’s Pardons Affect 6,500 Convictions

On October 6, Biden announced that he had issued an executive order to pardon all federal convictions for simple marijuana possession. The pardons will affect about 6,500 people who were convicted of marijuana possession under federal law and thousands more with similar charges in the District of Columbia, according to an analysis by The New York Times.

“As I often said during my campaign for President, no one should be in jail just for using or possessing marijuana. Sending people to prison for possessing marijuana has upended too many lives and incarcerated people for conduct that many states no longer prohibit,” Biden said in a statement. “Criminal records for marijuana possession have also imposed needless barriers to employment, housing, and educational opportunities. And while white and Black and brown people use marijuana at similar rates, Black and brown people have been arrested, prosecuted, and convicted at disproportionate rates.”

Biden also called on state governors to take similar action in their jurisdictions, where the vast majority of cannabis possession charges are filed and prosecuted as state offenses. Additionally, the president directed Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Justice Department to review the continued classification of marijuana as a Schedule 1 substance under the Controlled Substances Act. According to the legislation, the Schedule 1 classification is meant for drugs with no medical value and a high risk of abuse.

Activists Demonstrate at White House for Cannabis Clemency

Although many marijuana policy reform activists and representatives of the cannabis industry hailed Biden’s pardons as a historic step, others were unsatisfied with the limited scope of the action, which offers no relief for other federal marijuana-related convictions and resulted in no federal prisoners being released from prison. On Monday, activist groups including Students for Sensible Drug Policy, D.C. Marijuana Justice, the Last Prisoner Project and Maryland Marijuana Justice demonstrated outside the White House, calling on Biden to take more significant action on cannabis clemency.

“It was a failed opportunity to make real change. The president could have done so much more than he did,” Steve DeAngelo, co-founder of the Last Prisoner Project, told the Washington Post. “He really only did the bare minimum thing that he could do to generate a positive-sounding press release.”

Featuring speakers including hip hop icons Redman and M1 of Dead Prez, a 50-foot inflatable joint and the arrest of at least one protester for passing through a security gate without authorization, the demonstrators urged Biden to release all federal prisoners with nonviolent marijuana-related convictions. Cannabis activist Adam Eidinger, co-founder of D.C. Marijuana Justice, said the protestors’ demands include releasing 100 prisoners immediately and all 2,800 by Christmas.

“The greatest civil rights tragedy of the modern era is putting people behind bars for cannabis,” said Eidinger. “If we get any kind of interest from the White House, and they are willing to schedule meetings with representatives of those protests, then I imagine that we’ll call off civil disobedience and declare victory.”

The post Arizonans Benefitting From Biden’s Weed Pardons appeared first on High Times.

Enter ExStax, a cannabis technology and extraction company from Arizona. Co-CEO Rick Avila told High Times that every cartridge they sell comes with a removable mouthpiece, allowing the user to either use the cartridge as is or to essentially stack vaporizer chambers on top of one another and hit them at the same time.

“You can stack as many as your battery will allow,” Avila said, also mentioning that a new battery is in the works which will automatically detect how many different cartridges are attached (up to six at a time) and adjust the power level accordingly.

I should mention I have not actually tried this product myself yet so I have absolutely no idea if it works well, but rest assured that is the first thing I will be doing on our next family trip to Arizona. The mind reels at all the extremely heady and flavorful possibilities that present themselves. That said, this is something that actually has the potential to change how cannabis patients ingest their medicine because the potential uses are not just limited to cannabis and nicotine, as Avila explained.

“I give the example of somebody who uses CBD or even marijuana, and they have that in one cartridge. Let’s say Martha, she’s older, she has fibromyalgia or arthritis and she needs this for pain or medicine but that medicine makes her drowsy. B-12 gives you energy and that’s a water soluble vitamin currently on the market with other vaping devices. And there’s a plethora of different water soluble vitamins that you can put in there,” Avila said.

Being as it were that I am a journalist and not a doctor, I cannot confirm the safety or efficacy of vaping vitamins, much less combining them with other random oils. Some basic digging has informed me that there has not been a ton of research in the area so it’s hard to say. The FDA has been known to recall products, issue fines or worse for companies that sell vape juice with impurities or misleading information on the label. So, if you’re going to vape vitamins with your weed it might be best to check with a doctor or at the very least make sure your products are being made in America and lab-tested for anything you don’t want in your lungs.

Currently, the tech is only available through select dispensaries in Arizona which carry ExStax products, but the actual stacking components and empty cartridges can be purchased wholesale. So, essentially if you want to try this vape you have to go to Arizona or annoy your favorite local brand enough until they start using the same components for their cartridges.

I for one will be sourcing a rental car and driving at top speed until I make it to Phoenix, where I will be locating and purchasing at least a baker’s dozen of these to see how they smoke. I quit nicotine years ago but the devil might have me in a chokehold on this one.

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For the Grand Canyon State’s newly launched recreational pot industry, business is booming. Arizona’s medical cannabis decade-old market, meanwhile, continues to see lagging sales.

Citing figures from Arizona’s Department of Revenue, the AZ Mirror reports that “sales of medical cannabis dipped to slightly less than $45 million in May, their lowest total since January 2021, when adults were first allowed to purchase marijuana for recreational use,” while “initial estimates from tax collectors peg recreational sales at $76.5 million, the fifth time adult-use sales surpassed the $70 million mark.”

In addition, the state Department of Revenue “revised April’s sales upward to $81.2 million, up from the initial estimate of $75.5 million, making it the best sales month yet for recreational cannabis,” according to the AZ Mirror, topping the previous record of $80.4 million in March.

But while recreational pot sales have continued to climb, medical cannabis sales have gone the other way.

“Medical cannabis sales dropped precipitously for the seventh month in a row to slightly less than $45 million in May, only the second time in the past year medical sales dropped below the $50 million mark,” the AZ Mirror reported. “Preliminary numbers for June indicate $33.7 million in medical sales with recreational sales already on pace to hit another record, with $66.4 million reported so far.”

Arizona legalized medical cannabis in 2010, and the first sales launched two years later. In 2020, voters there approved a ballot proposal that legalized recreational cannabis for adults aged 21 and older. Adult-use sales began in January 2021.

In the first year, medical cannabis sales still outpaced recreational sales. The state reported that its two cannabis industries combined to generate more than $1 billion in revenue in 2021, with medical sales generating $703,803,194 and recreational sales pulling in $528,001,278.

“Rarely does an industry produce over $1.2 billion in revenue in its first year. This number shows that the legalization of cannabis is something Arizonans believe strongly in and the many benefits it contributes to the state’s economy,” said Samuel Richard, the Executive Director of the Arizona Dispensaries Association (ADA), after those figures were released in January.

Much like in other states that have also legalized adult-use cannabis, Arizona’s new recreational law contains social equity provisions designed to provide individuals from communities disproportionately affected by the War on Drugs with opportunities to the regulated pot industry.

The state has planned to award dozens of dispensary licenses to individuals who were adversely impacted by erstwhile marijuana laws. And last summer, Arizona introduced classes for social equity applicants “to ensure that social equity applicants are prepared for the application process and the challenges of running a marijuana business,” the state’s Department of Health Services said at the time.

The classes entailed “two days of content and education focused on a number of aspects of operating an adult-use marijuana business, including legal requirements, business practices, regulatory compliance, and fundraising, as well as marketing and strategic growth.”

“The social equity ownership program is intended to promote the ownership and operation of licensed Marijuana Establishments by individuals from communities disproportionately impacted by the enforcement of previous marijuana laws,” the department said in the announcement last August. “Social equity license holders will be required to comply with all statutes and rules that govern Adult-Use Marijuana Establishment licenses, including obtaining approval to operate before opening their retail location. Additionally, social equity license holders will be required to develop and implement policies to document how the Marijuana Establishment will provide a benefit to one or more communities disproportionately affected by the enforcement of Arizona’s previous marijuana laws.”

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The opening night event is called Friday Highday After Dark, which according to a press release, will be the “first phase of the [Plant.Body.Soul.] agency’s NFT roadmap.”

Plant.Body.Soul. Managing Partner and Co-founder, Jennifer Miles, explained her hopes for the future with this new NFT project. “The minting of the Owls After Dark NFT gallery marks the first step in our community access utility project that seeks to unite members through innovation, art, music, and real-life experiences,” said Miles.

The gallery’s other Co-founder, Gordon Ogden, also commented on the exciting prospects for these unique NFT offerings. “We are committed to the continual expansion of our NFT community,” said Ogden. “In the months following the launch we plan to hold exclusive events curated for registered NFT holders, create a Discord server for members, and incorporate additional features and virtual reality experiences.”

Weiland’s digital artwork often centers around the psychedelic, abstract digital sculptures, and exploring unique fantasy environments. Some of Weiland’s influences include “internet culture, design culture, tattoo culture and counterculture,” which are usually depicted with many colorful elements that they describe as fun, dreamy, and perhaps a little bit dark”. Last year Weiland crafted a 3D procedural techno forest for the Fall 2021 issue of Broccoli Magazine’s mycophiles magazine, called Mushroom People.

Those who purchase NFTs featured in the Owls After Dark gallery will also receive real-world benefits as well. These rewards include access to swag drops, a high-quality art print of their NFT, and regular access to Plant. Body. Soul.’s ongoing Friday Highday Happy Hour and Friday Highday After Dark events. The NFTs will be available on OpenSea, one of the largest NFT marketplaces, after the event begins.

Friday Highday After Dark embraces multiple facets of local cannabis culture. Food will be made by High Vibe Kitchen Collective, and an “intimate, yet highly curated” wellness lounge from Cannakula will be present. Local cannabis brands such as Aeriz, Curaleaf, Select, Good Things Coming, and Sunday Goods will be in attendance to promote their products, and members from Arizona NORML will also be there to educate attendees about consumer rights and their ongoing effort to help expunge cannabis convictions. Music will also be performed by Phoenix Crews, Record Bar Radio, and Melrose House.

Recently NFTs and cannabis have become a popular partnership, with some cannabis brands featuring NFT artwork on their packaging. But it’s also being used as a collaborative effort to promote advocacy in the industry as well.

In January, Burn1, the Black Comics Collective, and The Weldon Project worked together to create an NFT project that would benefit those who have been negatively affected by the War on Drugs. Original art was presented by John Jennings, and even an unreleased Snoop Dogg song was offered.

The Weldon Project’s Founder, Weldon Angelos, praised the merging of cannabis and art for the community. “I began The Weldon Project and launched the MISSION [GREEN] initiative to raise the bar for awareness, social justice, and social equity around cannabis and provide relief to those who have been negatively impacted by unjust drug laws,” said Angelos. “This NFT project with the Black Comics Collective and Burn1 is exciting because it allows me to further our mission while creating an exciting new blend of art, music, and activism.”

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The Arizona Department of Revenue this week reported sales and tax revenue figures for March 2022 in the agency’s updated monthly report. The department also revised the reported sales for February 2022, increasing the total by several million dollars.

Sales of recreational pot in Arizona amounted to $72.3 million in March, increasing by more than $2 million over the previous month. Sales of adult-use cannabis were also up more than $2 million in February, following a slight dip in sales in January compared to the month before.

Sales of medical pot dropped to $49.4 in March, marking the first time sales of medicinal cannabis fell below $50 million since sales of recreational pot began last year. Medical sales hit their highest total of nearly $73 million in March 2021, dropping to more than $60 million per month over the next six months. Since October, sales of medicinal cannabis have dropped by more than $1.5 million every month as sales of recreational pot increased. Combined medical and adult-use cannabis sales came to $121.8 million in March.

The Department of Revenue also raised its reported figures for regulated cannabis sales for February. Sales of medical pot were increased for the month by $1.2 million to $53.7 million, while reported adult-use cannabis purchases were adjusted upward by $2.3 million, bringing the new monthly total to almost $71 million. The figure for total cannabis sales for February was revised up to $123.8 million.

Pot Sales Bring Tax Revenue to State Coffers

Cannabis taxes collected were also reported by the department. Arizona levies an excise tax of 16% on recreational pot and customers also pay the state sales tax rate of 5.5%. Medical weed patients pay the sales tax but not the excise tax. City and county sales taxes are also assessed on cannabis purchases.

In March, weed taxes collected totaled $21.3 million, including $4.1 million from sales of medicinal cannabis. Sales tax collected on recreational pot purchases came to $5.6 million, while the excise tax on adult-use cannabis generated $11.6 million in revenue.

“The legalization of cannabis in Arizona has been a boon for our economy and the state tax coffers,” Arizona Dispensary Association executive director Sam Richard said in a statement quoted by the Arizona Mirror. “The financial benefits are important, but the social impact cannot be understated, as citizens no longer have to live in fear of having their lives disrupted by low level marijuana arrests and convictions.”

Last month, a report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that Arizona and five other states raised more tax revenue from cannabis taxes than they did from taxes on alcohol. Together, the 11 states that have legalized sales of adult-use cannabis received about $3 billion in excise taxes on cannabis, while alcohol sales generated around $2.5 billion in tax revenue.

In 2021, Arizona raised $105 million from cannabis taxes, compared to $92 million in alcohol taxes. California received about $832 million in cannabis taxes, approximately twice the revenue generated by alcohol taxes. In Colorado, cannabis taxes totaling $396 million eclipsed alcohol taxes by a magnitude of eight times.

“This is still a small part of state budgets, but it’s a very quickly growing area. There aren’t many revenue sources that grow year over year. This has been a several-year trend now,” Carl Davis, one of the authors of the ITEP study, said in a statement quoted by The Hill. “The early states, what you see is revenue start low and grow very, very quickly.”

The post Arizona Adult-Use Weed Sales Top a Record $72 Million appeared first on High Times.

State officials and applicants crowded the health department’s Phoenix office on Friday as the winning applicants were randomly selected using Smartplay International state lottery software. The process was operated and audited by Henry & Horne LLP to ensure the security of the selection lottery. The selected applicants will now begin the process to open licensed adult-use cannabis dispensaries.

Legalization with Equity

Proposition 207, the historic voter initiative to legalize recreational cannabis passed by Arizona voters in 2020, included provisions to “promote the ownership and operation of marijuana establishments and marijuana testing facilities by individuals from communities disproportionately impacted by the enforcement of previous marijuana laws.” Applicant Arianna Munoz told reporters before the lottery that the social equity program has the potential to change her life.

“It would create generational wealth for me and my family. It would give me more opportunities to create other business ventures,” said Munoz, who was not selected in Friday’s lottery. “I’ve always wanted to be a brand owner and dispensary owner and it was the perfect time.”

Arizona’s legalization initiative included provisions to grant recreational cannabis business licenses to the state’s existing medical dispensaries, which began selling cannabis products to adults in January 2021. But social equity retailers will not be able to sell cannabis for medicinal purposes.

“Prop. 207 didn’t amend the Arizona Medical Marijuana act at all, so the reason why the currently established medical licenses can be kind of co-located is because they already existed,” explained Sam Richard, executive director of the Arizona Dispensary Association. “The only new licenses Prop. 207 created were adult-use, recreational licenses.”

Jon Udell, the director of politics for the Arizona branch of the National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said that a bill to fix the issue has died in the state legislature.

“Right now there just isn’t really a realistic path forward” for a legislative solution,” Udell said.

Arizona Judge Denies Legal Challenge

On Wednesday, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge James Smith ruled against three social applicants who filed a legal action to delay Friday’s lottery. Paul Conant, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs, said that the social equity licenses should not be awarded before the health department conducted background checks on the applicants. He argued that the process could lead to the selection of unqualified applicants.

“This is a one-time deal in Arizona,” Conant argued at a hearing on Wednesday. Awarding licenses to unqualified applicants only to revoke them later “would be unfair to all the other people who have submitted applications, paid their $4,000 application fee, and otherwise have gone through the process of trying to qualify.”

But the judge rejected the argument and declined to issue an injunction to block Friday’s lottery.

“The Court finds that the Department properly exercised power that Proposition 207 expressly gave it, used proper procedures, and used its discretion when deciding whether to hold the drawing before or after completing the checks,” Smith wrote in a ruling quoted by the Phoenix New Times.

Other challenges to Arizona’s cannabis social equity program focused on the details of business ownership. Under the regulations, qualified individuals must own 51% of a social equity business, allowing large corporations and multi-state operators an avenue to partner with applicants to operate under the program. Business owners are also permitted to sell their licenses to companies that are not owned by social equity applicants. Critics charge the rules for the program fail to live up to its social equity objectives.

Because Arizona’s recreational cannabis regulations include a cap on the number of adult-use dispensaries that can be licensed by the state, the social equity licenses awarded last week will be the last to be awarded for the foreseeable future. The selected applicants have 18 months to open their dispensaries. A list of the lottery winners is available online.

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The Arizona Court of Appeals judges ruled that it is not neglect if a mother gives birth to a child that has cannabis in its system, as long as she has permission from a doctor to use it as a medical treatment under the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act (AMMA).

The case, Lindsay Ridgell v. Arizona Department of Child Safety, involved mother and medical cannabis card holder Lindsay Ridgell, whose child was born in May 2019. Due to the presence of cannabis in her child’s system, the hospital notified the Department of Child Safety and she was placed on the Central Registry. Her child wasn’t taken from her, but her name would remain on the Central Registry for 25 years, which could possibly interfere with getting a job. According to Yahoo! News, there are over 81,000 names on the Central Registry, as of 2018 (the most recent data currently available).

Three judges, Judge Randall M. Howe, Brian Y. Furuya and Michael J. Brown, ruled on March 31. “The Director [of the Department of Child Serves] erred in placing Ridgell on the Central Registry. A person may be placed on the Central Registry if her newborn infant has been exposed to certain drugs, including marijuana, but only if that exposure did not result from medical treatment administered by a health professional,” Judge Howe wrote in his opinion. 

“The evidence shows that Ridgell was certified under AMMA to use marijuana medically to treat chronic nausea. The doctor who certified Ridgell’s eligibility for using medical marijuana knew that she was pregnant. Because the use of marijuana under AMMA ‘must be considered the equivalent of the use of any other medication under the direction of a physician,’ A.R.S. § 36-2813(C), the exposure of Ridgell’s infant to marijuana resulted from medical treatment and did not constitute neglect under A.R.S. § 8-201(25)(c).”

Ridgell’s legal representation, Julie Gunnigle, worked pro bono on her case. “It basically says Lindsay was right all along,” Gunnigle said.

After numerous years have passed, Ridgell told the Phoenix New Times that she was relieved that the judges ruled in support of her case. “I feel so happy. A weight has lifted from my shoulders and I feel free,” Ridgell said. “This means a lot to myself and my family. I can finally go back into social work and hopefully earn a higher wage than I have been the past couple years, as well as find more fulfillment in work. I miss helping people, especially kids.”

Ridgell received a medical cannabis card 10 years ago to help treat irritable bowel syndrome. In 2018, when she confirmed she was pregnant, she was diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum, otherwise known as extreme morning sickness. The condition led her to return to the emergency room numerous times in order to seek treatment.

The court’s “facts and procedural history” notes that her child stopped breathing and needed to be resuscitated after birth. After nurses witnessed the baby’s “jitteriness,” he was transferred to the Phoenix Children’s Hospital for further evaluation. “The hospital performed a drug test, which was positive for marijuana, Buspar, caffeine, and Benadryl, and [they] diagnosed him with intrauterine addictive drug exposure,” the case record states.

Ridgell’s case garnered support from the National Advocates for Pregnant Women, the Academy of Perinatal Harm Reduction, and comedian Amy Schumer among many other doctors and advocates. Schumer in particular also suffered from hyperemesis gravidarum, the symptoms of which are seen in an HBO Max series called Expecting Amy.

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On March 7 of this year, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office (MCAO) issued a press release, announcing the expansion of efforts to assist the local community through expungement of cannabis arrest records, as well as a numerical milestone for the region.

As of that date, MCAO had filed over 10,000 petitions to expunge eligible closed cases involving cannabis. The majority—over 7,000 of those petitions—were filed in cases handled by the office since 2016. MCAO representatives mentioned that they limited the filings to about 500 a week to avoid overwhelming the court system. 

This is most likely a reaction to the expungement program’s slow start last year, but the MCAO is confident the process is refined and well underway, and that they will be able to make significant progress. 

Individuals in Arizona with certain cannabis-related convictions on their records became eligible to have their criminal records expunged, or cleared. The provisions are available under Proposition 207, or the Arizona Safe and Smart Act. The process began several months ago.

Starting the day the new law went into effect, the MCAO began proactively filing petitions to expunge the convictions for eligible people who had previously been charged. These petitions included individuals convicted of certain cannabis-related offenses and individuals charged with a cannabis offense who successfully completed a diversion program but still had an arrest and dismissal on their criminal record.

“I believe that the will of the voters should be implemented as efficiently as possible,” said Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel. “My office is working diligently to continue to identify those cases and assist individuals who have a right to have their records expunged under this voter approved law.”

The MCAO cited “resource limitations,” forcing them to prioritize the most recent cases. 

In addition to filing for expungement proactively, MCAO also created a public website where individuals can ask prosecutors to review their case. If they are eligible, a MCAO representative can file a petition to expunge their conviction.  

KTAR reports that those who were arrested, charged, convicted or acquitted of certain cannabis-related offenses were able to apply online to the Superior Court to have their records erased. There is no fee to file the petition.

Per the law, expungement petitions are limited to three offenses:

• Possessing, consuming or transporting 2.5 ounces or less of cannabis—of which not more than 12.5 grams is in the form of concentrate.
• Possessing, transporting, cultivating or processing no more than six cannabis plants at the filer’s primary residence for personal use.
• Possessing, using or transporting paraphernalia “related to the cultivation, manufacture, processing or consumption of cannabis.”

If a request for expungement is granted by the court, the case file and law enforcement records related to the charge will be sealed and not available to the public.

The MCAO providing the following numbers to highlight the updates:

• Since July 12, 2021, MCAO filed 10,607 expungement petitions in closed cases, including 1,094 petitions generated from 1,340 inquiries initiated through the public website. 
• The office has also responded to approximately 1,186 petitions filed by individuals, either themselves or through an attorney.

Immediately following the certification of the election, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office filed motions to dismiss pending cases in Maricopa County affected by the new law. 

The MCAO proactively filed to dismiss or drop over 5,000 charges related to the use, transportation or cultivation of adult-use cannabis.

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