The case of Andre Maestas, a student at Arizona State University and a medical marijuana card holder, is a prime example of what’s wrong with Arizona’s drug enforcement policies and our conflicting laws.
Marijuana prohibition zealot and Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery filed felony marijuana possession charges against Maestas because he had 0.6 grams of marijuana and smoking paraphernalia in his dorm room. (0.6 grams is approximately a teaspoon of pot.)
How could a medical marijuana patient be charged with felony possession– especially for such a tiny amount? Patients are allowed to possess and purchase up to 2.5 ounces of pot every two weeks. Maestas had 0.02 ounces. (Did I mention that Maestas is black?)
Apparently, Maestas was charged and found guilty under a 2012 law passed by the Arizona Legislature (and backed by the universities) which bans medical pot on college campuses. Maestas’ case claims the 2012 law– which changes the 2010 voter-approved Medical Marijuana Act– is illegal because of the 1998 voter-approved Voter Protection Act, which prohibits the Legislature from changing or over-turning citizen initiatives. (The Voter Protection Act was passed two years after Arizona voters overwhelmingly passed medical marijuana the first time.) So far– the courts are not buying Maestas’ argument, and he is scheduled to be sentenced in early October. What’s wrong with this picture?
