Arizona Senator’s New Bill Is Attacking Arizona Medical Marijuana Industry

On January 5, 2018, Arizona Senator David Farnsworth (R-Mesa) introduced a bill that will hinder the Arizona medical marijuana industry and restrict the press in Arizona.

Sen. Farnsworth’s bill, SB 1060, seeks to make it a federal crime for publications — such as AZmarijuana.com — to publish information about Arizona medical marijuana dispensaries and their products, even though such publications only help educate and inform the more than 150,000 medical marijuana patients in Arizona.

Sen. Farnsworth believes that for every unverified or inaccurate dispensary address that an Arizona publication posts, it should be guilty of a Class 6 felony and a $10,000 fine. (For the record, AZmarijuana.com’s Dispensary page only publishes registered/state-licensed medical marijuana dispensaries and is persistently striving to keep the information accurate.)

Publishing accurate information is of the utmost importance to publications. But, even more so, is the freedom which allows any entity or person(s) to say or write whatever they deem worthy. If this sounds familiar it’s because it is part of the First Amendment in the Constitution of the United States. Yet, Sen. Farnsworth doesn’t seem to care. Instead, he appears to have an anti-marijuana personal agenda that’s more important than the Constitution, making his attempt to censor the Arizona press a brazen and shameful act that would make any dictator proud.

The First Amendment reads:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Sen. Farnsworth’s bill, SB 1060, reads, in part:

A listing or menu service that displays the contact information for or product lines of a nonprofit medical marijuana dispensary without verifying that the nonprofit medical marijuana dispensary has a registration certification or that displays a physical address for a nonprofit medical marijuana dispensary that is different than the address listed on the nonprofit medical marijuana dispensary’s registration certificate is guilty of a class 6 felony and shall pay a fine of not less than ten thousand dollars for each violation.

Email Senator David Farnsworth today and tell him to throw out bill SB 1060.

• Call Sen. Farnsworth’s office at 602-926-3020
• Email Sen. Farnsworth at dfarnsworth@azleg.gov

Also, email your local representative today and tell him/her to throw out Senator David Farnsworth’s bill (SB 1060).

Find all Arizona state-licensed medical marijuana dispensaries here.

Photo: hiveminer