Should police be able to seize medical marijuana?

CREATED Mar. 8, 2013

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  • It's an age old lesson: don't take what isn't yours. But when it comes to medical marijuana, State Representative Ethan Orr says it's not that simple. Video by kgun9.com

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Reporter: Liz Kotalik

TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - It's an age old lesson: don't take what isn't yours.

But when it comes to medical marijuana, State Representative Ethan Orr says it's not that simple.

"This bill was at the behest of the police departments and the county prosecutors."

This bill is SB 1441.

Representative Orr and other house judiciary committee members voted yesterday to pass it on to the House.

It says if any marijuana is seized in a criminal investigation, police can destroy it, whether it's legally possessed or not.

As Aari Ruben prepares to open his dispensary in East Tucson, he says legislation like this has potential to be misused.

"We want to know that we're safe there, and that our property is safe there, and that medicine that we're trying to produce is going to make it to patients who need it."

These are all concerns Representative Orr says he understands, and that's why he's pushing to make changes to the legislation.

"What I want to do with this bill before it gets to the floor is craft some amendments."
 
Specifically for dispensaries, he would suggest the police only take a portion of the business' product for testing.
 
For cardholders, he says police should treat their marijuana like a prescription drug.

It would be seized and destroyed, but the person would get their money's worth if the drugs is proven to be legally owned.

But that causes problems too.
 
Some don't want to money, they want the marijuana.
 
So, Representative Orr is proposing that the cardholder get their share of their marijuana back, and he says he's confident that a bill with these amendments would pass on the House floor.
 
It's a contentious argument, but Aari says he understands the need for clarification.
 
"I think it's unusual for an industry to be asking to be regulated, but as medical marijuana operators and even as patients, we really just want to know what the rules are and what we have to do to remain safe and compliant."