STATE CAPITOL, PHOENIX (August 7, 2012) – Today marks another disappointing chapter in our State’s ill-advised experiment with so called “medical” marijuana. The issues here are simple: Federal law clearly prohibits both possession and distribution of marijuana regardless of the intent. Yet, the administrative and regulatory resources of the State of Arizona are currently being used to facilitate federal crimes.

As the new legal opinion made by Attorney General Tom Horne makes clear, the situation is legally untenable as it puts state agencies and their employees in danger of violating federal law. State employees deserve absolute certainty that they will not face prosecution for doing their jobs under state law.

At the moment, Arizona is under a court order to comply with the so called “Medical Marijuana Act” but this forced association cannot be allowed to proceed indefinitely. For the sake of both public safety and the rule of law it is imperative that Arizona abandon its involvement with the sale and distribution of a federally-banned substance.

I commend Governor Brewer and General Horne for diligently pursuing legal clarity and a solution to this dilemma. I would also like to thank the county attorneys and sheriffs for contributing their support to this cause.

Andy Tobin

Speaker

Arizona House of Representatives