Extracts Are Legal In Arizona. Again.

In a 7-0 decision, the Arizona Supreme Court held that it is legal for medical marijuana cardholders to posses cannabis extracts. This includes hashish, oil, edibles, wax, and other extract products.

Why Were Extracts Illegal?

You might remember the case of Rodney Jones back in 2013. Jones was arrested with 1.4 grams of “hashish.” He was then sentenced to 2.5 years in a state prison. All the time, Rodney Jones was a legal MMJ patient at the time.

The reason for this has to do with two county prosecuters: Sheila Polk (Yavapi) and Bill Montgomery (Maricopa). His arrest took place in Yavapai County, and it was a policy of Sheila Polk’s office (along withBill Montgomery’s) that an earlier statute in Arizona superseded the voter initiated and approved 2010 Arizona Medical Marijuana Act known as the AMMA. Simply put: they thought an old law should override the medical law when it came to concentrates. When it comes to weed they are tough as nails; but when it came to state licensed dispensaries, neither county attorney acted.

Mr. Jones filed an appeal with the Arizona Court of Appeals. Unfortuantley, they did not overturn the conviction. Jones then filed another appeal to the Arizona Supreme Court. They decided to hear the case and detecide if cannabis extracts are authorized under the 2010 law.

AZ Supreme Court Rules Extracts Legal

The Supreme Court decided that the statement in the AMMA that defines marijuana as “all parts of the plant,” means the extracts as well as the flower. While this is definitely a win for Rodney Jones and the medical marijuana community as a whole, he did already serve his time in prison.

Debate Over Legal Limit

As you may know, the legal limit for marijuana is 2.5 ounces. The court ruled that limit to not apply for extracts. The Court did not, however, state what the legal amount of an extract should be. Instead, they said the legal amount of concentrates could not be extracted for more than the limit of 2.5 oz of flower.

The TSA Allows CBD

The Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) updated their allowed items list. They added:

“Products/medications that contain hemp-derived CBD or are approved by the FDA are legal as long as it is produced within the regulations defined by the law under the Agriculture Improvement Act 2018.”

This means you can now bring CBD products on an airplane.

This rule change does not, however, allow any cannabis or cannabis derived products.