Arizona laws regarding ownership of ground glassware for chemistry usage

Question

I was watching a YouTube video that included an interview with a Clandestine Chemist, and at the 8:50 mark, he states:

In Arizona, mere possession of ground glassware is a felony, if you're not a licensed chemist.

I live in Arizona, and I do some organic chemistry on my spare time. So hearing this worries me, especially when it's coming from someone who has so much experience with the law in regards to chemistry and ground glassware. Granted, everything I have is 14/20 or 14/10 scale (mini and micro scale, respectively), which is as small as it gets. So if I was manufacturing narcotics, that would be the most tedious operation.

Does anyone know if the above statement is accurate? I tried looking for some ARS stating that it was illegal to own ground glassware, but wasn't able to come up with anything specifically stating that it's illegal.

Answer 1

Arizona does not license chemists, though they do license pharmacists. There is a law against possession of drug paraphernalia, violation of which is a felony. The law also says

In determining whether an object is drug paraphernalia, a court or other authority shall consider, in addition to all other logically relevant factors, the following:

1. Statements by an owner or by anyone in control of the object concerning its use.

2. Prior convictions, if any, of an owner, or of anyone in control of the object, under any state or federal law relating to any drug.

3. The proximity of the object, in time and space, to a direct violation of this chapter.

4. The proximity of the object to drugs.

5. The existence of any residue of drugs on the object.

6. Direct or circumstantial evidence of the intent of an owner, or of anyone in control of the object, to deliver it to persons whom he knows, or should reasonably know, intend to use the object to facilitate a violation of this chapter.

7. Instructions, oral or written, provided with the object concerning its use.

8. Descriptive materials accompanying the object which explain or depict its use.

9. National and local advertising concerning its use.

10. The manner in which the object is displayed for sale.

11. Whether the owner, or anyone in control of the object, is a legitimate supplier of like or related items to the community, such as a licensed distributor or dealer of tobacco products.

12. Direct or circumstantial evidence of the ratio of sales of the object to the total sales of the business enterprise.

13. The existence and scope of legitimate uses for the object in the community.

14. Expert testimony concerning its use.

The size of your equipment would be relevant in defending against such a charge; your publications in the field of chemistry would be relevant. The burden of proof is on the prosecution to show that you were using the glassware to make drugs. Paraphernalia is defined as

all equipment, products and materials of any kind which are used, intended for use or designed for use in planting, propagating, cultivating, growing, harvesting, manufacturing, compounding, converting, producing, processing, preparing, testing, analyzing, packaging, repackaging, storing, containing, concealing, injecting, ingesting, inhaling or otherwise introducing into the human body a drug in violation of this chapter.

so a garden shovel can be used to grow marijuana, but that is not enough. The prosecution has to prove that the items "are used, intended for use or designed for use" in drug making – not just that they could be so used.