On May 28th, Arizona’s Supreme Court ruled 7-0, that cannabis extracts are protected under Arizona’s 2010 law legalizing medical marijuana in the state.
The Court’s unanimous ruling came as a relief to the State’s 198,000 qualified patients and 5,600 dispensary workers. Extracts include many of the most popular methods of administering cannabis such as vape cartridges and edibles. These products are made from resin that is extracted from the plant.
Even though the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act (AMMA) of 2010 made it clear that the law permits "the dried flowers of the marijuana plant, and any mixture or preparation thereof,” some card-carrying patients were still prosecuted for having extracts. The problem stemmed from an existing definition of hashish in Arizona’s constitution that left enough ambiguity for an aggressive prosecutor to incarcerate qualified patients.
The Court’s May 28th ruling clearly established that the voter’s intent in 2010 was to include extracts in the AMMA.
