Find out what Proposition 207 says about and the effects of the legalization of marijuana in Arizona.

Marijuana for recreational personal use was illegal under both federal and state law. Voters approved a legalized medical marijuana measure in 2010. On November 2, 2020, voters in Arizona voted to pass Proposition 207 Arizona, allowing people over age 21 to possess and grow marijuana for recreational purposes. Medical marijuana dispensaries can sell marijuana to adults. The proposition becomes official on November 30, 2020. What are the legal implications of the passage of Proposition 207?

Although illegal under federal law in the United States, 11 states have legalized recreational marijuana. South Dakota, Montana, and New Jersey are also voting on legalizing marijuana. Additionally, Mississippi is voting on two competing measures to legalize cannabis for medical purposes.

Marijuana Possession

Adults over 21 will be able to possess 1 ounce of marijuana with fewer than 5 grams of it being marijuana concentrates. Possessing more than 1 ounce but fewer than 2.5 ounces will be a petty offense. Minors caught possessing less than 1 ounce would receive up to a $100 fine, and 4 hours drug counseling for the first offense. The second offense would be a fine up to $100 fine, and 8 hoursdrug counseling. AThe third offense would be a class 1 misdemeanor.

Marijuana Growing

Proposition 207 limits home cultivation to 6 plants and 12 plants at a primary residence where two or more individuals 21 years old or over reside.

Who can Sell Marijuana?

Proposition 207 requires the Department of Health Services to accept medical dispensaries’ applications beginning in January and issue those licenses to qualified medical dispensaries within 60 days.

March is the earliest that people without a medical-marijuana card could buy recreational use marijuana. The kick-off may take longer, but dispensary operators hope to offer recreational sales by April 20, 2021. 

Arizona has 120 operating medical dispensaries. Currently operating dispensaries will be the first to be allowed to get licenses for adult sales to anyone over 21. Nine or ten licenses in Arizona not being used at a dispensary will likely be issued to open and sell marijuana for both purposes.

The proposition also allows DHS to issue licenses to roughly twenty-five counties where there are fewer than two dispensaries today. Finally, there are twenty-five "social equity" licenses to be issued. After all available licenses have been issued, Arizona would have approximately 160 dispensaries.

What Marijuana products can be sold?

Proposition 207 will require packaging of marijuana products, including edibles, to be childproof and labeled, and it would limit the level of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, and edibles. Bans advertising to children and the sale of items that resemble those widely sold to children, such as gummy bears will be implemented.

Expungement of a prior felony marijuana conviction

Arizona is one o few states where a drug conviction for marijuana is a felony conviction, so it has life-lasting implications. Beginning on July 12, 2021, people previously convicted of specified marijuana crimes can petition to have their record expunged.

If somebody had a marijuana conviction, they were often denied food stamps, Pell Grants to go to college and do things that allowed them to be part of our community.

Anyone caught recently can file a court motion to get their case dismissed if it meets the statutory threshold of fewer than 2.5 ounces for marijuana flower, 12.5 grams of concentrates, or paraphernalia used for storing or using pot.

How the process becomes reality will depend on Arizona’s county attorneys. Proposition 207 permitsthe state Supreme Court to create rules that facilitate possession dismissals and past convictions.

Driving under the influence of Marijuana

Before Tuesday's election, anyone without a medical marijuana card could be prosecuted for a marijuana DUI if active marijuana metabolites were found in their system. Once proposition 207 ges into effect, cardholders can use an "affirmative unimpaired defense" at a DUI trial.

Proposition 207 changes things. While it prohibits driving while impaired by marijuana, Legislature can enact a law putting a threshold on the amount of active metabolites allowed in the bloodstream, which is similar to a blood-alcohol-content limit. Such a law can only be enacted when scientific research on the subject is conclusive. Additionally, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration must recommend the adoption of such a law.

This helps DUI defendants who face charges forDUI marijuana. The law won’t be retroactive when it comes to DUI but will only apply to new DUI cases after its enactment.

The use of marijuana in public and at work

Marijuana use remains illegal in public places such as restaurants, parks, sidewalks, etc. Offenders are guilty of a petty offense.

Proposition 207 does not make it legal to possess, use, or transport marijuana in the workplace. Specifically, the law states that it doesn’t :

• Restrict employers rights to maintain an alcohol and drug-free workplace;
• Affect employer’s ability to enact workplace policies restricting the use of marijuana by employees or prospective; or
• Require employers to accommodate or allow the consumption, possession, transfer, display, transportation, or sale of marijuana in a place of employment. 

After the November passage of Proposition 207, 33 states and the District of Columbia legally permit the medicinal possession, use, and commercial sale by licensed dispensaries. Fifteen states have also legalized the recreational possession, use, and commercial sale by licensed dispensaries of marijuana.

Federal law still considers marijuana illegal.

Even though several state and local governments have passed laws to allow marijuana product use, sale, and possession of cannabis, it is illegal under federal law. Any marijuana product with 0.3% or more delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, also known as THC, is still technically illegal within the United States.

The federal Controlled Substances Act has classified marijuana as a Schedule I drug. Marijuana is considered to have "high abuse potential with no accepted medical use."

Penalty for Possession and Distribution under Federal Law

Marijuana possession remains a federal offense. Federal law applies to crimes and offenses committed on federal property, including the Capitol grounds and the mall within DC, national parks and military property nationwide, and other lands controlled by the federal government. Federal law also applies to crimes and offenses involving interstate commerce and importation from other countries.

Penalty for Possession

• Marijuana possession is punishable by a jail term of up to one year, and a minimum fine of $1,000 for the first conviction.
• Second conviction penalties increase the prison term to a 15-day mandatory minimum with a maximum two years, and a fine of up to $2,500.
• Subsequent convictions are penalized by a 90-day mandatory minimum sentence, up to three years in prison, and a fine up to $5,000.

Penalty for Distribution

• Manufacture or distribution of fewer than 50 marijuana plants or 50 kilograms is punishable by a prison term up to five years and a fine up to $250,000. 
• For 50-99 plants or 50-99 kilograms the penalty increases to up 20 years in prison and a fine up to $1 million. 
• Manufacture or distribution of 100-999 plants or 100-999 kilograms carries a penalty of 5 – 40 years prison time, and a fine of $2 Million. 
• For 1000 plants or 1000 kilograms or more, the penalty increases to 10 years – life in prison and a fine of $4-$10 Million.
• Distribution of greater than 5 grams of marijuana to a minor under the age of 21 or distribution within 1,000 feet of a school, playground, public housing, or within 100 feet of a youth center, public pool, or video arcade doubles the possible penalties.

If you are or have been charged with a violation of marijuana laws, speak to an attorney experience in criminal defense who can advise you of your rights and prepare your defense.