IS IT ETHICAL FOR LAWYERS TO HELP WITH POT LAW?

Arizona attorneys who help clients navigate some of the legal
intricacies of the state's new medical marijuana law will apparently
be violating the ethical requirements for attorneys.

Or at least that is the opinion of Patricia Sallen, ethics counsel
for the State Bar of Arizona, who looked at the issue of whether it
would be OK for attorneys licensed in Arizona to help those trying to
take advantage of the law by either trying to set up marijuana
dispensaries or trying to obtain a doctor's recommendation to use
marijuana for medical purposes.

She says these kinds of proactive steps by attorneys will violate an
ethical rule established by the Arizona Supreme Court that states "a
lawyer shall not counsel a client to engage, or assist a client, in
conduct that the lawyer knows is criminal or fraudulent."

She said selling or possessing marijuana is still illegal under
federal law - even though the new state law approved by voters Nov. 2
makes medical use of marijuana legal in the state - so helping
clients would be unethical.

This seems like a curious stand, however, since the federal
government itself apparently does not view medical marijuana use
authorized by state laws as a problem. It has not challenged similar
laws in more than a dozen other states that have them, including California.

If the federal government doesn't care, why should the Arizona Bar?

Even more curious is her uncertainty about whether it would be OK for
an attorney to represent someone in court in regard to the marijuana law.

Don't lawyers represent lawbreakers who are murderers, rapists, child
molesters and so on? Yet someone trying to follow a law approved by
the voters of the state is unworthy of an attorney's help?

These are awfully strange ethical rules for attorneys.