Arizona Organix medical marijuana dispensary is opening its doors today. The Glendale, Arizona dispensary had been awaiting Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Michael Gordon’s decision on the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act.
Gordon found in favor of the voter approved Arizona Medical Marijuana Act, so Arizona Organix dispensary is “rushing to open its doors and serve medicine to medical marijuana patients in Arizona.”
Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery and Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne argued that the law would force state employees to facilitate federal crimes if they issued licenses to medical-marijuana dispensaries. The two issued statements saying they would appeal the decision.
“As the trial court notes, the questions of law presented in this case and the analysis utilized by the trial court are not well settled or universally accepted,” noted Montgomery in his statement.
The judge found that while marijuana is still illegal under federal law, the U.S. Constitution allows Arizona to make different policy choices than the federal government when it comes to decriminalizing and regulating medical marijuana. Gordon wrote, “Clearly, the mere State authorization of a very limited amount of federally proscribed conduct, under a tight regulatory scheme, provides no meaningful obstacle to federal enforcement.” Gordon wrote. “No one can argue that the federal government’s ability to enforce the CSA is impaired to the slightest degree.”
Arizona has more than 33,000 medical marijuana patients–most if which have been longing for the opening of a dispensary to purchase medicine, while others prefer to cultivate their own medicine or get medicine from a medical marijuana delivery service.
Arizona Organix dispensary in Glendale and Southern Arizona Integrated Therapies dispensary in Tucson are the first two dispensaries to open for business in Arizona. It is probably safe to assume that many other dispensaries will begin to open within the next few months.