After getting several inquiries concerning leasing airport fields to firms cultivating cannabis, the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration)asserted that doing so causes adverse issues with the state law. That indication was identified in a 2019 little-noticed memo that’s now erupting at the nervous of a local controversy as a town from Arizona tries to take advantage of the jurisdiction’s voter-passed legalization reform.
According to a report from The White Mountain Independent, FAA’s memo is causing issues in Springerville, Arizona. This is where the Town Committee rezoned previous municipal airport lands and passed a lease contract in 2020 with a marijuana firm that plans on cultivating cannabis on the land.
The 2019 October communication to local airport directors pointed out that the federal department has received a surfeit of requests from airport investors regarding whether cannabis can be grown at state obligated airports. The department has also sought guidance on setting up a nationwide and consistent stand on the matter.
The memo states that the fundamental objective of cultivation activities is for commercial cannabis production and dissemination. A commercial cannabis distribution system infringes the CSA (Controlled Substance Act) and translates into a felony according to State Law. It adds that a lease to grow cannabis for public distribution is illegal, goes against public interest and is an investor criminal liability.
However, Springerville didn’t receive the memo since local representatives awarded White Mountain Flower, LLC a lease contract for a rezoned section of airport fields last year. The firm intends to grow and infuse marijuana commodities and the area was expecting the operation to create multiple local jobs.
Mayor Hanson Phil, Jr. was also reported to have taken a job in the firm after signing the contract. Councilman Llamas Ruben also joined White Mountain Flower; however, the town lawyer asserted that the local legislator didn’t know about any employment opportunities before voting to authorize the lease.
