Arizona’s medical marijuana patients will now have access to more types of marijuana-infused edibles at state-licensed dispensaries.
Judge Katherine Cooper has officially ruled that using marijuana concentrates (oils, hash, keif, dabs, waxes, etc) to make medical marijuana edibles such as drinks, candies, cookies, and other marijuana-infused foods is legal in Arizona.
“It is undisputed that medical marijuana is intended to be used by patients to treat chronic, debilitation, and/or painful conditions,” the judge Cooper wrote, listing conditions in the law ranging from cancer to nausea to seizures and chronic pain.
“It makes no sense to interpret the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act as allowing people with these conditions to use medical marijuana but only if they take it in one particular form,” said Cooper. “Such an interpretation reduces, if not eliminates, medical marijuana as a treatment option for those who cannot take it in plant form, or could receive a greater benefit from an alternative form.”
Cooper also noted that the law specifically allows the use of marijuana “and any mixture or preparation thereof.”
“These words expand the allowable manipulation of the plant,” stated Cooper. “To conclude that patients can only use unmanipulated plant material would render the phrase meaningless.”
Most noteworthy, Judge Cooper pointed out the voter-approved statute states that marijuana can be prepared “for consumption as food or drink.”
This ruling will allow state-licensed dispensaries to make marijuana edibles with any version of concentrates available; thus leading to more products available for medical marijuana patients.