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Arizona Court Removes Penalties on Students Who Carry Medical Cannabis on Campus

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[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]O[/dropcap]n May 23, an Arizona Supreme Court upheld a previous appellate court decision that reverses a 2012 ruling, removing state penalties on students who possess cannabis on college campuses. Andre Lee Juwaun Maestas faced a felony charge for the possession of 0.4 grams of cannabis despite being registered as a medical cannabis patient, but the patient can now walk free.

Attorney and NORML legal committee member Tom Dean represented the defendant pro bono. After winning the case, Dean called the ruling a “victory for democracy.”

“Because the AMMA sets forth a list of locations where the legislature may impose ‘civil, criminal or other penalties’ when a person possesses or uses marijuana, § 36-2802, and because that list does not include college and university campuses (unlike pre-, primary-, and secondary-school grounds), we assume that the voters did not intend to criminalize AMMA-compliant possession or use of marijuana on public college and university campuses,” the court ruled in a 12-page ruling.

Maestas was arrested in March of 2014 for possession of cannabis as well as obstructing a public road. Police noticed that Maestas carried a medical cannabis card in his wallet at the time of his arrest, then obtained a search warrant to search his dorm at Arizona State University, where they found a tiny amount of cannabis.

The 2012 ruling against possession of cannabis on college grounds, judges ruled, was unconstitutional as it sought to amend the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act. Arizona law bans cannabis at primary and secondary schools, buses, preschools and correctional facilities, but college campuses are specifically mentioned.

The ruling subsequently dismisses the felony conviction that Maestas faced. The implications of the case ruling extend to all other college students across Arizona. Pursuing college students who have taken the steps to obtain medical cannabis legally is a waste of taxpayer money and a waste of time for law enforcement.

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