Homeless in Arizona

It seems like the ADA, and all the folks in the legal medical marijuana cartel want to make marijuana just legal enough so they can sell you their overpriced marijuana at $300+ an ounce. And of course get a government monopoly for themselves so they can become the legal recreational marijuana cartel.

Sadly the ADA, and all the folks in the legal medical marijuana cartel want to keep marijuana illegal enough, so they can arrest and jail anybody that cuts into their profits selling overpriced $300+ an ounce weed, cannabis or marijuana.

It also seems like marijuana criminal defense attorney Tom Dean, Mikel Weisser, Safer Arizona and of course Phoenix NORML all want to help the Arizona legal medical marijuana cartel become the Arizona legal recreational marijuana cartel.

Source

Swift Split: The Arizona Dispensaries Association has lost a state lobbyist

by Nick Meyers

January 31, 2019

No one on the Arizona Dispensaries Association board expected DeMenna Public Affairs to resign from representing the organization, but a letter sent to all but one board member Jan. 23 announced their departure from the association.

While the resignation letter maintains a friendly tone, referring to the "privilege" of working on various legislative projects, litigation surrounding concentrates and meeting with Governor Doug Ducey, one paragraph seems rather ominous.

The resignation letter refers to issues of "organizational discipline" that "threaten" the ADA's efforts toward legalization in 2020, as well as "accusations of racism and unprofessional conduct" leveled at the DeMennas.

Feuds between DeMenna Public Affairs and certain camps within the ADA are no secret.

In the past year, concerns have been raised over the firm's involvement in shutting down a testing regulation bill, their double role as executive director and lobbyists for the ADA and, most recently, seemingly contrary remarks about Rep. Tony Rivero's bill this year.

Kevin DeMenna, father and senior advisor to DPA partners Ryan and Joe DeMenna, told the Yellow Sheet Report the departure was largely due to disagreements with Tucson's very own Moe Asnani, owner of Downtown Dispensary and D2.

Most recently, Asnani turned to his own lobbyist, Gibson McKay, to help Rivero introduce HB2149, which would remove the definition of concentrates from state statutes, when DeMenna failed to make headway on the bill following a vote by the ADA board.

DeMenna maintains he was implementing his own strategy and that Asnani (amateurishly) jumped the gun with sloppy legislation.

But the DeMennas' strategy might not have been what the industry needed, said Mikel Weisser, director of Arizona NORML.

"I understand the DeMennas are top-dog lobbyists with decades of reputation," he said. "But I'm pretty clear they had too much of an adversarial approach for the cannabis issue."

The cannabis movement has been led by grassroots activism, Weisser explained, not top-down decisions. [Rubbish!!! The cannabis movement or marijuana movement has mostly been led by businessmen who want to make big bucks by getting a government monopoly on growing and selling medical marijuana and recreational marijuana. The big businessmen that Mikel Weisser or Michael Weisser hangs out with. You know Kathy Inman, Demitri Downing, and marijuana criminal defense attorney Tom Dean]

Either way, the DeMennas made clear they were not willing to work with the ADA while Asnani was on the board, and ADA President Steve White has chosen to focus on finding new representation rather than mire himself in the spat.

Weisser said there currently aren't any other efforts for a 2020 adult-use cannabis initiative. Safer Arizona has all but dissolved and Arizonans for Mindful Regulation (who were happy to hear about DeMenna's departure) aren't "prepared to do anything politically at this time." [Hmmm Mikel Weisser didn't mention RAD. Of course Michael Weisser seems to hate RAD or ReLegalize All Drug. RAD has the ONLY initiative that demands 100% complete legalization of marijuana]

Any chance for an adult-use cannabis initiative rests in the ADA's choice of a new lobbying firm and someone to lead the initiative, a process that has likely been set back by the DeMennas' resignation, Weisser said.

Initiative on RAD webpage

Initiative on AZ Elections web page

Initiative to re-legalize Marijuana in Arizona in 2020 C-01-2020

OFFICIAL TITLE

100% Complete re-legalization of Marijuana & Hashish

FULL TEXT OF PROPOSITION

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Arizona, the Constitution of the State of Arizona is amended BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW ARTICLE to read:

100% complete re-legalization of marijuana & hashish

1. The government shall recognize that marijuana abuse is NOT a criminal problem but a medical problem.

2. The government shall NOT tax, regulate, or pass any laws governing marijuana or marijuana activities.

3. The government shall NOT assist any other government entities, such as Federal, foreign, world, Native American or state governments in enforcing any laws against marijuana.

4. The government shall NOT pass any guide lines, rules, regulations or laws discriminating against people or entities that use marijuana. Such as laws that limit a marijuana user's guns rights or parental rights.

5. Any person convicted of any marijuana offense in the past shall automatically have their criminal record cleared of those charges and automatically receive a full pardon for those charges.

6. Any person arrested for any marijuana offense in the past who accepted a plea bargain for reduced charges shall automatically have their criminal record cleared of those reduced charges and automatically receive a full pardon for those reduced charges.

7. Any government employee, agent, elected official, judge, law enforcement officer or prosecutor that falsely arrests a person, violates a person's rights, passes a law or issues a ruling, guideline or edict that that interferes with a person's marijuana use rights defined here shall be personally and civilly liable to each person for each incident for a minimum of million in damages or 10 times the actual amount of damages whichever is greater. There shall be no immunity to a person who claims to be "acting in good faith" or for any other reason.

8 . All government courts shall accept cases involving marijuana use, and decide the case based on the oral, written, or other contracts of the parties involved. Courts may not refuse cases by saying that marijuana is illegal under Federal law, international law, or other laws.

9. Definitions: For this initiative the word "marijuana" refers to any form of marijuana, cannabis, hashish or hemp and includes concentrated forms such as THC, CBD, hash, hash oil, wax, shatter and all other forms. This includes all parts of any plant of the genus cannabis, whether growing or not, the seeds of such plant, the resin extracted from any part of a plant of the genus cannabis; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture or preparation of such plant, its seeds or its resin; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture or preparation of such resin or tetrahydrocannabinol. This includes, but will not be limited to; all paraphernalia for marijuana use, such as pipes, bongs, cigarette papers or dabbing tools.

10. "Marijuana activities" shall be defined as; but shall not be limited to: using, smoking, vaping, eating, consuming, drinking, snorting, transdermal delivery, injecting, sale, transfer, growth, cultivating, manufacture, processing, cooking, production, storage, possession, giving legal advice, transportation, or importation of marijuana. This includes any form of "marijuana use": recreational, religious, medical, commercial, industrial or any other use