Keenan REED-KALIHER, Petitioner, v. The Honorable Wallace R. HOGGATT, Judge of the Superior Court of the State of Arizona, in and for the County of Cochise, Respondent, and State of Arizona, Real Party in Interest.
No. CV-14-0226-PR.
Supreme Court of Arizona.
April 7, 2015.
347 P.3d 136
Edward G. Rheinheimer, Cochise County Attorney; Doyle B. Johnstun (argued), Chief Criminal Deputy County Attorney; Brian M. McIntyre, Deputy County Attorney, Bisbee, Attorneys for State of Arizona.
Barbara LaWall, Pima County Attorney; Jacob R. Lines, Deputy County Attorney, Tucson, Attorneys for Amicus Curiae Pima County Attorney.
William G. Montgomery, Maricopa County Attorney; Thomas P. Liddy, Bruce P. White, and Joseph I. Vigil, Deputy County Attorney, Phoenix, Attоrneys for Amici Curiae Maricopa County and Maricopa County Attorney William Montgomery.
David J. Euchner and Sarah L. Mayhew, Tucson, Attorneys for Amicus Curiae Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice.
Thomas W. Dean, Phoenix, Attorney for Amicus Curiae National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
Justice BERCH authored the opinion of the Court, in which Chief Justice BALES, Vice Chief Justice PELANDER, and Justices BRUTINEL and TIMMER joined.
Justice BERCH, opinion of the Court.
¶ 1 Keenan Reed-Kaliher pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana for sale and attempted possession of a narcotic drug for sale. A superior court judge sentenced him to 1.5 years in prison on the marijuana count and suspended the sentence on the narcotic drug count, imposing three years’ probation. One of the conditions of his probation required him to “obey all laws.”
¶ 2 While Reed-Kaliher was serving his prison term, the people of Arizona passed Proposition 203, the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act (“AMMA“). AMMA permits “a person who has been diagnosed by a рhysician as having a debilitating medical condition” to apply for a card identifying the possessor as a “registered qualifying patient.”
¶ 3 Reed-Kaliher suffers chronic pain resulting from a fractured hip. After AMMA became state law, Reed-Kaliher obtained a “registry identification card” from the Arizona Department of Health Services that identifies him as a “registered qualifying patient” under AMMA, so that he might obtain medical marijuana to ease his pain.
¶ 4 During the term of Reed-Kaliher‘s probation, his probation officer added a new condition to his probation, specifying that he “not possess or use marijuana for any reason.” Reed-Kaliher opposed this condition and sought relief in the superior court. He claimed that AMMA‘s immunity provision,
¶ 5 Reed-Kaliher filed a special action in the court of appeals. That court granted relief, holding that a qualifying patient cannot “be deprived оf the privilege of probation solely based on his medical use of marijuana” within the limitations on quantity and location provided by AMMA, and “a condition of probation threatening to revoke his privilege for such use cannot be enforced lawfully and is invalid.” Reed-Kaliher v. Hoggatt (State), 235 Ariz. 361, 364 ¶ 12, 332 P.3d 587, 590 (App.2014). We granted review because the scope of immunity under AMMA is a question of statewide importance.
¶ 6 We review questions of statutory interpretation de novo. Gutierrez v. Indus. Comm‘n of Ariz., 226 Ariz. 395, 396 ¶ 5, 249 P.3d 1095, 1096 (2011). “Our primary objective in construing statutes adopted by initiative is to give effect to the intent of the electorate.” State v. Gomez, 212 Ariz. 55, 57 ¶ 11, 127 P.3d 873, 875 (2006).
A. AMMA‘S Application to Probationers
¶ 7 AMMA permits those who meet statutory conditions to use medical marijuana. Because marijuana possession and use are otherwise illegal in Arizona,
¶ 8 AMMA broadly immunizes qualified patients, carving out only narrow exceptions from its otherwise sweeping grant of immunity against “penalty in any manner, or denial of any right or privilege.”
¶ 9 AMMA precludes people who have committed “excluded felony offense[s]” from serving as “designated caregiver[s]” or “medical marijuаna dispensary agent[s].”
B. Conditioning Probation on Abstention from AMMA-Compliant Marijuana Use
¶ 10 Probation is a privilege. State v. Montgomery, 115 Ariz. 583, 584, 566 P.2d 1329, 1330 (1977). Revocation of probation is a penalty. State v. Lyons, 167 Ariz. 15, 17, 804 P.2d 744, 746 (1990). Under AMMA, if the state extends a plea offer that includes probation, it cannot condition the plea on acceptance of a probationary term that would prohibit a qualified patient from using medical marijuana pursuant to the Act, as such an action would constitute the denial of a privilege. Nor may a court impоse such a condition or penalize a probationer by revoking probation for such AMMA-compliant use, as that action would constitute a punishment.
¶ 11 “When granting probation, the trial court has only that authority given by the statutes of Arizona.” State v. Jordan, 120 Ariz. 97, 98, 584 P.2d 561, 562 (1978); see also Green v. Superior Court (State), 132 Ariz. 468, 471, 647 P.2d 166, 169 (1982) (to same effect). In this case, an Arizona statute, AMMA, precludes the court from imрosing any penalty for AMMA-compliant marijuana use.
¶ 12 The State nonetheless argues that prohibiting one convicted of a drug crime from using marijuana should be permitted because it is a reasonable and necessary condition of probation. Our job here, however, is not to determine the appropriateness of the term, but rather to determine its legality. While the State can and should include reasonable and necessary terms of
¶ 13 The State observes that probation conditions can prohibit a wide range of behaviors, even those that are otherwise legal, such as drinking alcohol or being around children. While the court can condition probation on a probationer‘s agreement to abstain from lawful conduct, it cannot impose a term that violates Arizоna law.
¶ 14 We therefore hold that any probation term that threatens to revoke probation for medical marijuana use that complies with the terms of AMMA is unenforceable and illegal under AMMA.
C. Harmonizing AMMA‘s Immunity Provision with Statutes Prohibiting Marijuana Use
¶ 15 The court of appeals’ dissent reasoned that an existing statute banning possеssion or use of narcotic drugs “requires defendants convicted of enumerated drug offenses and placed on probation to be ‘prohibited from using any marijuana‘” during the term of probation. Reed-Kaliher, 235 Ariz. at 370 ¶ 38, 332 P.3d at 596 (Espinosa, J., dissenting) (quoting
¶ 16 Just as AMMA provides immunity for charges of violating
¶ 17 Section 13-3408(G) prohibits the use of marijuana or narcotic or prescription drugs except as “lawfully administered by a health care practitioner,” a phrase that suggests that the legislature intended to distinguish betwеen illicit use and lawful medicinal use of such drugs. Medical marijuana use pursuant to AMMA is lawful under Arizona law. Thus, we harmonize
D. Preemption
¶ 18 Citing State v. Camargo, the State argues that the probation condition requiring Rеed-Kaliher to “obey all laws” requires compliance with federal laws, including federal drug laws. 112 Ariz. 50, 52, 537 P.2d 920, 922 (1975) (“A court can order as a condition of probation that the probationer comply with the law, federal as well as state.“). Although a court may require com-
¶ 19 The State suggests that AMMA conflicts with federal law, and because state officers cannot simultaneously follow both laws, they should enforce the federal proscriptions on marijuana use pursuant to the Controlled Substances Act (“CSA“),
¶ 20 Congress itself has specified that the CSA does not expressly preempt state drug laws or exclusively govern the field:
No provision of [the subchapter on control and enforcement of United States drug laws] shall be construed as indicating an intent on the part of the Congress to occupy the field . . . to the exclusion of any State law on the same subject matter which would otherwise be within the authority of the State, unless there is a positive conflict between that provision . . . and that State law so that the two cannot consistently stand together.
¶ 21 There is no suсh conflict here. By not including a prohibition against AMMA-compliant marijuana use, or in this case by removing the condition upon Reed-Kaliher‘s request, the trial court would not be authorizing or sanctioning a violation of federal law, but rather would be recognizing that the court‘s authority to impose probation conditions is limited by stаtute. Jordan, 120 Ariz. at 98, 584 P.2d at 562.
¶ 22 We find persuasive the analysis of the Michigan Supreme Court, which held that the CSA does not preempt a Michigan statute that is substantially identical to AMMA. See Ter Beek v. City of Wyoming, 495 Mich. 1, 846 N.W.2d 531, 536-41 (2014). That court reasoned that the statute does not prevent federal authorities from enforcing federal law—it merely provides “a limited state-law immunity.” See id. at 537 (emрhasis omitted) (noting that the statute “does not purport to prohibit federal criminalization of, or punishment for” use permitted by state law). The manifest purpose of the CSA was “to conquer drug abuse and to control the legitimate and illegitimate traffic in controlled substances.” Gonzales v. Raich, 545 U.S. 1, 12, 125 S.Ct. 2195, 162 L.Ed.2d 1 (2005). A state law stands as an obstacle to a federal law “[i]f the purpose of the [federal law] cannot otherwise be accomplished—if its operation within its chosen field else must be frustrated and its provisions be refused their natural effect.” Crosby v. Nat‘l Foreign Trade Council, 530 U.S. 363, 373, 120 S.Ct. 2288, 147 L.Ed.2d 352 (2000) (quoting Savage v. Jones, 225 U.S. 501, 533, 32 S.Ct. 715, 56 L.Ed. 1182 (1912)).
¶ 23 The state-law immunity AMMA provides does not frustrate the CSA‘s goals of
¶ 24 Nor does the oath of office taken by state officers require them to condition probation on abstention from AMMA-compliant marijuana use. All state officers and employees in Arizona, including judges and prosecutors, swear to “support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution and laws of the State of Arizona.”
E. Waiver
¶ 25 Finally, the State argues that Reed-Kaliher‘s agreement to the “obey all laws” term implies a waiver of his right to use marijuana pursuant to AMMA. But Reed-Kaliher could not have knowingly waived his rights under AMMA because it did not exist when he entered the plea agreement. See Ariz. Title Guar. & Trust Co. v. Modern Homes, Inc., 84 Ariz. 399, 402, 330 P.2d 113, 114 (1958) (“[B]efore a waiver of a right may be inferred, such right must be in existence at the time the claimed waiver occurred.“). Moreover, such a waiver would be ineffective because, as noted above, AMMA bars courts from imposing a probation сondition prohibiting the use of medical marijuana pursuant to AMMA. See State v. Ferrell, 237 Ariz. 125 ¶ 9, 347 P.3d 142 (2015), filed contemporaneously with this opinion.
II. CONCLUSION
¶ 26 For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the opinion of the court of appeals.
REBECCA WHITE BERCH
Justice