Pubdate: Thu, 06 Jun 2013
Source: Tucson Weekly (AZ)
Copyright: 2013 Tucson Weekly
Contact:  http://www.tucsonweekly.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/462
Author: J.M. Smith

BAR FIGHT

A Case in Maricopa County Superior Court Is Another Distraction in the
Medical Marijuana Saga

Two lawyers walk into a bar.

Then the lawsuits start flying, and nobody gets to have any fun
drinking, because the lawyers are throwing briefs around like bar
stools and screaming at the judge to throw that motherfucker out of
here, because he's drunk and he's spilling drinks all over everyone.
So the drunk motherfucker screams at the judge a little, defending his
actions, and the judge eventually hears enough and orders a bouncer to
throw someone into the street.

Everyone wakes up the next day with a hangover, trying to remember
exactly what happened and wondering if anyone really won the fight.
The cannabis bar brawl continued May 22, when a group of nonprofit
dispensary hopefuls from across the state, mostly the Phoenix valley,
hurled a bar stool at the state Department of Health Services.

The Maricopa County Superior Court case stems from one brought last
June by the White Mountain Health Center, a planned dispensary in the
west valley. That dispensary was blocked from even applying to open
because Maricopa County refused to issue a required zoning decision,
even though White Mountain appeared to meet all of the applicable
zoning requirements. Interestingly, there were no local requirements,
meaning the only hurdle was a state requirement that the dispensary
not be near a school. Maricopa County didn't reject the application;
it simply ignored it. A judge sided with White Mountain, but the case
is still pending an appeal because Maricopa County Attorney Bill
Montgomery is a hater.

Meanwhile, other dispensary operators waited because they didn't want
to make huge investments toward opening if they would never be allowed
to. They hoped the precedent-setting White Mountain case would be
resolved in time for them to meet a June 7 deadline to request a state
inspection. Now it's clear they won't make it. So they sued.

These latest lawsuiters claim they were "chilled" by the unresolved
legal issues, meaning that the threat of legal sanction prevented them
from exercising their right to open dispensaries. It wasn't their
fault that the legality of dispensaries still hasn't been adjudicated,
they said. They asked the court to nullify the time line, then set a
more reasonable deadline for completing the application process.

Winning in court is important to the dispensaries, because if you ask
the state for a dispensary certificate and don't open by the deadline,
your officers and board members are banned from participating in the
Arizona medical cannabis program. Ever. Period. Wtf?

This latest lawsuit brings the number of lawsuits over the Arizona
Medical Marijuana Act to way, way too many. It would take both of my
hands and part of my feet to count them all. You can look them up here
(http://azdhs.gov/medicalmarijuana/dispensaries/lawsuits.htm).

So the lawyers are out on the town again, slamming drinks and getting
all puffed up and snarling. They'll probably have a couple of beers
and a shot or two at the first bar, bracing for the fight and yelling
insults at the other lawyers. When the bartender cuts them off,
they'll take the fight to another bar, where they'll keep drinking and
start pushing and shoving. Eventually, punches will start flying and
one side or the other will get their ass kicked and go home.

The winners will stand in the street, dripping blood on their torn
shirts, shrieking at random strangers in the wee hours. "That's right,
bitches! You should see the other guy! I fucked him up good!"

Legal proceedings can get ugly. Parsing broad issues into tiny little
blacks and whites is messy sometimes, but I suppose I wouldn't have it
any other way. Yes, sometimes drunks get carried away, but they're fun
to watch when they aren't tossing bar stools. As a wise lawyer once
told me, our civil courts are about incremental change that gradually
builds into bigger change. It might seem like a lot of effort for such
tiny gains, but those little gains can eventually add up to big things
indeed. It's not all about giant leaps forward.

It's about the baby steps.
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MAP posted-by: Matt