Medical marijuana patients got an early Christmas gift from Arizona’s Court of Appeals. On Dec. 20, the three-judge panel declined an expedited appeal filed by Maricopa County Attorney William Montgomery aimed at preventing medical marijuana dispensaries from opening their doors.

The court’s action lets stand a lower court’s ruling on Dec. 3 that effectively allowed the first dispensaries to open around Arizona. Court of Appeals Presiding Judge Samuel A. Thumma and Judges Michael J. Brown and Diane M. Johnsen heard oral arguments from Maricopa County Deputy Attorney Thomas P. Liddy and plaintiff’s attorney Kelly J. Flood on Dec. 20 and declined to overturn Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Michael D. Gordon’s ruling against Montgomery and in favor of a planned dispensary in Sun City.

The Dec. 20 decline has no bearing on the regular appeal, Thumma wrote in the court’s opinion, meaning the case will likely still come before the court later this year. In the meantime, Gordon’s ruling is the law of the land.

For the full story, see the Friday, Jan. 4, edition of the Sedona Red Rock News.