Once the 2020 election is certified and pot officially becomes legal in Arizona for adult users, Pima County will join two other counties that have announced early dismissal of low-level possession and paraphernalia cases.
After the passage of Proposition 207, Smart and Safe Arizona, Maricopa and Yavapai counties announced their intentions to get ahead of expungement and Pima County was fast to follow suit.
There may not be many cases to dismiss though, as the Pima County Attorney’s Office has treated possession of small amounts of pot and attendant paraphernalia as petty offenses rather than Class 6 felonies for the past quarter-century.
“We have very few felony marijuana possession cases,” outgoing Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall wrote in a recent email. “Because the initiative involves such a small amount of marijuana, the vast majority of Pima County personal marijuana possession cases involved will currently be in Misdemeanor Drug Diversion. Since I first was elected to office 24 years ago, we have prosecuted marijuana possession cases in amounts under 2 pounds as diversion eligible misdemeanors, not as felonies.”
LaWall, who is leaving her post as the county’s lead attorney on Dec. 31, has instituted some of the most progressive cannabis policies in the state under her…
