Like many other states, Arizona has legalized recreational marijuana. It can be sold at a licensed dispensary, and people can buy it simply for adult use – not just medical use. Since 2021, dispensary owners have been able to get the proper license and set up businesses making sales of cannabis products like flowers, plants, seeds or edibles.
As a consumer, you are not allowed to make these sales yourself. You may be able to buy plants and grow them on your property for personal use, but you cannot start selling those plants to friends and family members. You need to have the proper license to run a dispensary. Recreational marijuana sales are legal, but not necessarily for everyone.
But how does this law apply to sharing marijuana products? Say that you’re going to watch a football game with your friends and you bring a package of edibles. Can you share them with your friends or would you be accused of drug distribution?
Money can’t change hands
Sharing is permitted under Arizona law, as long as both people are at least 21 years old. If they’re under that age, they’re not allowed to possess marijuana at all, so you cannot share it with them. This is essentially the same way that the law works for alcohol products.
Additionally, you do truly have to be sharing, meaning that you don’t get any financial compensation. Your friends are not using you as a middleman and making purchases. You’re sharing of your own free will, without receiving any money in exchange, keeping it from being a drug sale.
As you can imagine, misunderstandings with these new laws could lead to criminal charges. If you find yourself facing such allegations, be sure you know what legal defense options you have.