AZ Governor Jan Brewer Rejects Call From County Attorneys To Stop Medical Marijuana Implementation
It’s being reported that Arizona Governor Jan Brewer is rejecting a call from 13 Arizona county attorneys that the state health department stop issuing medical marijuana cards and to not license medical marijuana dispensaries in Arizona. The call came in the form of a letter, which was authored by Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk and signed by 13 out of 15 Arizona county attorneys. The two counties that did not sign were Coconino and La Paz.
According to the Yuma Sun, Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk stated, “The federal government is vigorously enforcing the Controlled Substances Act by seizing and closing medical marijuana dispensaries in other states.” The article went on to say, “Polk said she has been told – she does not say by whom – that John Leonardo, the new U.S. attorney for Arizona, “fully intends to prevent any dispensaries from operating in Arizona by seizing each and every one as it opens and commits violations of the Controlled Substances Act.””
Ah, the anonymous source. Well guess what Sheila Polk, I have an anonymous source that tells me you are well aware of the fact that voters approved medical marijuana in Arizona, yet you are trying to do everything you can to stop it because of your own personal feelings towards the subject. Why else would Sheila Polk be trying to fight medical marijuana so hard? Counties are the creation of the State, and the State of Arizona approved medical marijuana. That should be the end of the discussion, but the fact that Sheila Polk brought it upon herself to write a 3-page letter to the Governor, and got 13 of her 15 colleagues to sign it, I think speaks to the fact that she is anti-mmj and will do everything in her power to try to stop it.
Jan Brewer herself tried delay tactics, but at the end of the day she has to do what she was elected to do – carry out the will of the Arizona voters. “I am duty-bound to implement the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act, and my agency will do so unless and until I am instructed otherwise,” Brewer wrote in her response to the letter. On August 7th, a lottery will select 99 medical marijuana dispensary operators from a pool of 486. There will no doubt be more attempts to try to stop it, but it is my hope that safe access will finally arrive in Arizona.
To read Sheila Polk’s letter to Jan Brewer, click this link
To read Arizona Governor Jan Brewer’s response, click this link
