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Arizona court rules no medical pot immunity in parked cars

Posted at 6:34 AM, May 10, 2019
and last updated 2019-05-10 09:34:31-04

PHOENIX (AP) - Arizona's medical marijuana law doesn't allow smoking the drug in public places and a court ruling says people with state-issued cards entitling them to use cannabis don't have immunity in a car in a parking lot.

The Arizona Court of Appeals ruling Thursday affirms misdemeanor convictions of two people caught smoking marijuana inside a car parked near a Mesa music festival.

The court rejected the argument by Matthew and Elena Tagge that their medical-marijuana cards provided immunity from prosecution and said they ceded their immunity by smoking marijuana in a public place.

One judge on the panel cautioned that immunity still applies to a cardholder in a place that is traditionally private, such as a closed bedroom of a mobile home parked in a public lot.