Arizona is Now One of the Medical Marijuana States that Will Honor Out-of-State Card Holders
If you get a medical marijuana card in Florida and then go to New Jersey expecting that you can buy, carry and consume medical cannabis there because they also have a medical marijuana program, that would be incorrect. Not many of the 29 active medical marijuana states will accept a medical marijuana card issued in another state, and the police will not either. A court in Arizona recently decided that the state must honor medical marijuana cards issued in other states.
After Arizona’s recent court decision, there are now seven states that will honor out-of-state medical marijuana cards including New Hampshire, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania. Arizona will allow any official medical marijuana card holder to possess up to the state limit of 2.5 ounces but will not allow visitors to purchase cannabis from their dispensaries.
A three-judge panel upheld that a physician recommendation for cannabis under California’s Compassionate Use Act is equivalent to cards issued under Arizona’s Medical Marijuana Act.
The question centered on a 2016 case in which state police pulled over Stanley Kemmish Jr., who had a California medical marijuana card. Kemmish was indicted on one count of possession of narcotic drugs, and one count each of possessing marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
Kemmish argued he was allowed to possess the items under Arizona’s medical marijuana law because he had a doctor’s recommendation for the cannibis.
For its decision, the appellate court’s panel relied on the voter-approved Arizona Medical Marijuana Act, which gives “visiting qualifying patients” the same immunity as those with Arizona medical marijuana cards, the ruling says.
“Whether another state’s medical marijuana law requires an identification card, a physician’s letter, or some other documentation is immaterial, so long as the documentation is sufficient under the law of the issuing state,” the court opinion states.
All of the medical marijuana states have different rules concerning medical marijuana that any visitor of the state should become familiar with before attempting to purchase or consume cannabis. Some states allow for the purchase of marijuana flower, others have banned smoking marijuana so do not permit the sale of flower at all, only extracts to try and force consumers to vape it or take it in a sublingual form.
read more at azcentral.com
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