The Republic | azcentral.com Mon Feb 3, 2014 10:20 PM

A cancer survivor who lives in Carrillo Ranch in Chandler says he will begin circulating a petition to overturn that homeowners association board’s rule that homeowners and guests cannot smoke medical marijuana in their yards or on their patios.

Tom Labonte, who lives in the 4700 block of West Carla Vista Drive in Chandler and is in remission from prostate cancer, said he does not use medical marijuana, but he has friends who do.

“I am an advocate for people who have cancer who are no longer in remission,” Labonte said.

Labonte said he plans to take his petition door-to-door at Carrillo Ranch, a community east of Rural Road between Ray Road and Chandler Boulevard.

The board voted to prohibit the smoking of marijuana — medical or recreational — in residents’ backyards, front yards, patios and common areas.

It’s the ban on individuals’ property that has angered some residents, including Labonte, who supports patients’ use of medical marijuana to treat side effects from cancer.

He said that for people on chemotherapy who have mouth sores, nausea, listlessness and lack of appetite, “medical marijuana is almost a miracle drug.”

“People who are fighting this disease don’t need the ignorance of the homeowners association trying to enforce (a ban),” he said. “The board overstepped its bounds. We don’t live in Cuba. We don’t live in Russia. We live in the United States, where law-abiding citizens have the right to follow their doctors’ advice and consent to feel better.”

Labonte emphasized that he is not advocating for people who just want to get high, but only for medical use.

Curtis Ekmark, whose law firm drafted the rule for Carrillo Ranch’s board, said HOAs are trying to head off disputes.

Ryan Hurley, a partner with the Rose Law Group, said HOAs can prohibit marijuana in common areas, but that “prohibiting people from smoking in their backyards ... is an overreach. It would be awfully hard to enforce.”

Brian Lincks, president of City Property Management, the management company for Carrillo Ranch, said the ban was adopted lawfully because the covenants, conditions and restrictions of the HOA allow the board to make rules governing the lots.