County Drops Charges Against Medical Marijuana Patient

This week charges were dropped for a medical marijuana patient in Phoenix who was arrested for a DUI stop in November.

The patient, who has remained anonymous, was found to be in possession of just one piece of marijuana infused chocolate candy edible. The reasoning behind the arrest was that the “compassion club” that he purchased the infused candy from doesn’t have the state’s approval to sell marijuana.

Maricopa County Attorney, Bill Montgomery, and his office had hoped to use this case in an attempt to push forward the idea that when the medical marijuana law was passed in Arizona, it did not include concentrated marijuana such as infused edibles, oils, or hash.

The patient who was arrested with the single piece of candy presented a state-issued medical marijuana card when he was detained, but he was later sent a letter from Montgomery’s office saying that he could plead guilty and have to pay his way through a drug program or he could fight a felony conviction that could land him in jail for almost four years.

The case was dropped unexpectedly when Montgomery claimed the evidence had been “destroyed”. Others are theorizing that the state simply chose not to prosecute in fear that the jury would rule in the patient’s favor, which would put into jeopardy similar cases that have yet to go to trial.

Read the original article: “Montgomery Prosecuting MMJ Patient for One Edible.”