KPHO.com:  “A medical marijuana dispensary may be coming to a neighborhood near you.  After a federal judge’s ruling yesterday, card carriers said they are one step closer to getting what they want.  ‘By the thousands, hundreds of thousands, we see people come in here every day,’ said We Grow Owner, Sunny Singh, ‘We are not a dispensary. We don’t have any marijuana here.’ . . . ‘Any person or business, who is dealing in medical marijuana, is trafficking in marijuana and that’s a class two felony,’ [Maricopa County Attorney Bill] Montgomery said.”

The County Attorney conveniently forgot to mention that he was talking about federal law, not Arizona law which is his job to enforce.  He should have said “Any person or business, who is dealing in medical marijuana and compliance with Arizona’s medical marijuana laws is NOT trafficking in marijuana and DOES NOT COMMIT A CRIME UNDER ARIZONA LAW.

Phoenix New Times: “Governor Jan Brewer and her legal counsel will study today’s dismissal of her lawsuit against the medical marijuana law while keeping a ban on dispensaries, a spokesman says. . . . It was a thinly disguised attack on a state law that they didn’t like. It also exposed Brewer as a hypocrite on the issue of states’ rights. Her attack on medical marijuana took place even as she and Horne spent taxpayer dollars defending two state anti-illegal-immigrant laws that the federal government claims are unconstitutional. . . . Brewer’s position, then, assumes a truly silly idea: That Will Humble, director of the state DHS and his underlings will be prosecuted by the feds for following state law.  This is a straw-man argument, though, apparently intended as a tactic in Brewer’s fight against the pot law.”

Arizona Republic:  “A federal judge dismissed Arizona’s medical-marijuana lawsuit Wednesday, saying the state couldn’t show workers were at risk of prosecution for following the voter-approved state law.  U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton’s ruling removes the obstacle that Gov. Jan Brewer and state health officials said prevented the state from issuing permits for medical-pot dispensaries.  Brewer spokesman Matthew Benson said the governor would consult with Attorney General Tom Horne before deciding whether to appeal.”

Phoenix New Times:  “Governor Brewer’s Lawsuit Against Medical Marijuana Law Dismissed by Federal Judge. . . . In her new ruling, Bolton notes that ‘no credible evidence’ exists that state workers are at imminent risk of prosecution by administering the pot program. . . . We’ll contact the Gov’s office to find out if their mission to thwart the will of voters has a Plan B.”

Mmj Lawsuit Dismissed

Tucson Weekly:  “Well, it seems Gov.  Jan and her crew may have toppled their medical-marijuana man, and they might be out of the game.  A federal judge seemingly ripped the state a new one on Dec.  12 in the first oral arguments in the governor’s lawsuit that stalled Arizona’s MMJ program.”

Yuma Sun:  “Gov. Jan Brewer decided Wednesday to ask a federal judge to overturn a key portion of the state’s voter-approved medical marijuana law.  The move comes two days after Bolton told attorneys for the state she would throw out Brewer’s original lawsuit which simply asked the judge to decide if state employees can be prosecuted under the federal Controlled Substances Act for processing permits. Bolton said the state has to pick a side: Either federal law trumps last year’s initiative, or the state can implement its law despite federal statutes. . . . Brewer has chosen the former position, even though that’s contrary to what voters mandated.”

Governor Brewer has taken the exact opposite position with respect to Arizona’s Proposition 1070, the anti-illegal immigration law that will be considered by the United States Supreme Court.  In the SB 1070 case Governor Brewer is asking the Supreme Court to rule that Arizona can implement its law despite federal statutes.  Isn’t it the job of the Governor to enforce the laws of Arizona rather than making a personal choice as to which laws she will enforce?

Arizona Republic:  “U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton tore apart the state’s medical-marijuana lawsuit Monday, saying Arizona has to pick a side in the conflict over state and federal law.  Bolton stopped short of dismissing the case, saying she would issue a ruling later. But she told Assistant Attorney General Lori Davis she would throw it out unless the state decides whether or not to support its own law.  ‘That’s how lawsuits work,’ Bolton said. ‘The plaintiff takes a position’.”

Phoenix New Times:  “Governor Jan Brewer’s lawsuit against Arizona’s medical marijuana law took a beating today in federal court, where a judge told the state’s lawyers to pick a side on the issue. . . . Brewer and Horne, however, don’t have the chutzpah to actually argue against the voter-approved law — something that could be politically dangerous. . . . Their lawsuit relies on the creation of 20 fictitious defendants — 10 who believe the new state law violates federal law, and 10 who don’t believe it — to bolster their position that a dispute exists.  But Bolton said today that she planned to dismiss all of the fictitious defendants, adding that the tactic cannot ‘persist’ in federal court.  Arizona would need to choose which side it’s on before the suit can proceed, Bolton told Lori Davis, an assistant attorney general.”

East Vally Tribune:  “A federal judge chided Attorney General Tom Horne Monday, saying he was asking her to do his job: advising state agencies on the law. . . . ‘You don’t come to court and say, ‘Well, this our best advice, you give it a shot,” she told Assistant Attorney General Lori Davis.  Davis protested that the state finds itself in ‘an impossible position,’ being told by voters to license dispensaries but fearing that the workers who process the applications can be charged with helping facilitate the distribution of marijuana. She said Bolton should tell the state – and the governor – whether it’s OK to proceed.  ‘That’s what the AG is for, Bolton responded. ‘It’s not the courts that give (legal) advice’.”

East Valley Tribune:  “Attorneys for would-be marijuana dispensaries asked a state judge Wednesday to order Gov. Jan Brewer to follow the law approved by voters and begin issuing licenses as the statute directs.  ‘I don’t care whether she likes it or doesn’t like it,’ Ty Taber told Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Richard Gama. ‘Her sole job and responsibility is to implement that act.’  Assistant Attorney General Lori Davis did not dispute that last year’s voter-approved law requires the state Department of Health Services to license about 125 dispensaries where certified medical marijuana users can obtain the drug. And she conceded that Brewer has, in fact, directed the Department of Health Services not to issue any of those licenses.”

Sedona Red Rock News:  “While medical marijuana possession and use was legalized by voters in November 2010, one local woman said she was fired earlier this year simply for being a cardholder.  Now she is suing Verde Valley Community Hospice, a company located in Old Town Cottonwood, for wrongful termination and defamation.”

East Valley Tribune:  “The lawyer for one of the state’s medical marijuana clubs accused the governor and state attorney general on Friday of conspiring to undermine the voter-approved initiative making the drug legal for some ill people.  ‘We believe that there’s a clear and blatant pattern that has transpired over the last few months,’ said Thomas Dean. He said that directly includes both Gov. Jan Brewer and Attorney General Tom Horne.  ‘There’s plenty of evidence that was done in a way that was conspiratorial, fraudulent,’ Dean told Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Dean Fink.”