Homeless in Arizona

As I was walking to lunch today this thought popped into my head and made me wonder why if we are going to legalize marijuana in Arizona why do we need some silly limit on the amount of marijuana a person can possess or limit the number of plants they can grow.

About year ago at a Tempe NORML meeting I remember talking to a person with a California medical marijuana card.

He told me that he was one of the original holders of a California medical marijuana card and he told me that when the law was first passed there were NO LIMITS on the amount of marijuana you could posses if you were a medical marijuana patient in California. Someone on Facebook said that I was wrong on this and there was a 3 pound limit in the initial California law. But if that is true we can still say the voters or PEOPLE approved a law with a 3 pound limit, not the current measly 2.5 ounce limit we have in Arizona!]

He told me that over the years that California did pass stricter limits for the amount of medical marijuana a patient could posses. But he said that when these limits were put into effect over the years that existing medical marijuana cardholders got grandfathered in and got to keep their high limits of marijuana.

I believe that the initial California medical marijuana law was Proposition 215, which was passed by the voters in 1996.

So what I am thinking is that when the voters of California passed their medical marijuana law they didn't have any problem with patients theoretically possessing unlimited amounts of marijuana.

With that in mind it sure sounds like a lie when Andrew Myers and the folks at MPP or the Marijuana Policy Project are telling us that the voters won't pass a law to legalize recreational marijuana without having strict limits on the amount of marijuana a person is allowed to posses or a limits on the number of plants a person is allowed to grow.

Now here in Arizona when Andrew Myers and the folks at MPP wrote Prop 203 they included strict limits on the amount of marijuana you can possess and the number of plants you can grow. I think the amount is 2.5 ounces and the number of plants is 12.

All along I have suspect the ONLY reason that Andrew Myers and the folks at MPP included those strict limits on the amount of pot you could posses and the number of plants you could grow was to let the POLICE arrest and shut down ANYBODY that dared to cut into their government monopoly on growing and selling medical marijuana.

Now as we are talking about writing an initiative for Arizona to legalize recreational marijuana, we are still hearing Andrew Myers and I think MPP saying that based on studies they have done that the voters won't support any law that doesn't have strict limits on the amount of marijuana a person can possess and grow.

Based on California Proposition 215, which I am told the voters passed and which allowed medical marijuana patients to have unlimited amounts of marijuana it sounds like the voters of Arizona would approve a law allowing people to possess unlimited amounts of marijuana for recreational use.

And of course I suspect that again the only reason Andrew Myers and MPP are asking for limits on the amount of recreational pot a person can possess and a limit on the number of plants you can grow is to let the police help them enforce their government monopoly on growing and selling marijuana in Arizona.

Remember Arizona voters have pass laws at least THREE TIMES, that's at least 3 times legalizing medical marijuana.

My question is were there any limits on the amount of marijuana a person could possess when those prior medical marijuana laws were passed?

And if there were no limits for the amount of marijuana a person could posses in those first two laws which Arizona voters passed that shoots down Andrew Myers and MPP's arguments that the voters won't pass a law that doesn't limit the amount of recreational marijuana a person can possess or grow.

Now if what I have said is true, I suspect the ONLY reason Andrew Myers and MPP are asking for limits on the amount of marijuana a person can possess and a limit on the amount of marijuana a person can grow is so they can use those limits to let the police arrest and jail anybody that competes with their monopoly on growing and selling recreational marijuana.

Now their is some guy who always makes comments on my posts that I am full of krap and that Andrew Myers didn't write Prop 203. If that guy will every get back to me and tell me who really wrote Prop 203 I will give that guy credit in the future when I bitch and moan about Prop 203 and Andrew Myers.

This blurb defines the possession limits for medical marijuana in California.

HOW MUCH CAN I POSSESS OR GROW?

Under Prop. 215, patients are entitled to whatever amount of marijuana is necessary for their personal medical use. However, patients are likely to be arrested if they exceed the SB 420 guidelines. SB420 sets a baseline statewide guideline of 6 mature or 12 immature plants, and 1/2 pound (8 oz.) processed cannabis per patient. Individual cities and counties are allowed to enact higher, but not lower, limits than the state standard. See local limits. Patients can be exempted from the limits if their physician specifically states that they need more for their own personal use; but beware of physicians offering "cultivation" licenses for large amounts.

In a state Supreme Court ruling, People v. Kelly (2010), the court held that patients can NOT be prosecuted simply for exceeding the SB 420 limits; however, they can be arrested and forced to defend themselves as having had an amount consistent with their personal medical needs. Patients can be exempted from the limits if their physician specifically states that they need more; but beware of physicians who charge extra for “cultivation” licenses for large amounts. The validity of recommendations for specific plant numbers is doubtful.