As it’s been the tradition for several years, the 2016 legislative session began with nearly a handful of proposals hoping to burn down the state’s medical marijuana industry. Whether any of them will see the light of day is still up for debate, but the bills still fired up medical weed advocates, who are sick and tired of state lawmakers continuously attacking the 2010 voter-approved Arizona Medical Marijuana Act.
Perhaps the most offensive proposal that asked to amend the AMMA, according to Tucson naturopathic doctor Heather Moroso, was bill HCR 2019 by state Rep. Jay Lawrence, a Republican from Scottsdale. The bill—which Lawrence ended up dropping on Friday—would have prohibited physicians who practice alternative medicine, such as naturopathy and homeopathy, from prescribing medical marijuana, leaving only doctors of medicine and osteopathy as options.
“Medical marijuana is not something that is taught in medical school. [A naturopathist] already knows herbs. What is [Lawrence’s] logic? [That] MDs are more qualified,” Moroso says. Plus, she says, it is not likely a doctor will prescribe medical marijuana. Doctors working at federally-funded organizations can lose their license if they prescribe medical weed to a patient, because at a national level marijuana is still a Schedule 1 drug—meaning it is considered more harmful than methamphetamine.
With more than 87 percent of medical marijuana patients getting their prescriptions from either a naturopath or a homeopath, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services’ 2015 annual report—the bill was a clear attempt to greatly limit the flow of medical marijuana cards. And, without 87 percent of customers, marijuana dispensaries would nearly go extinct.
As of AZDHS’ last count in July 2015, there are more than 80,000 Arizonans with medical marijuana cards—an all-time high. Last year, there were about 65,000 registered patients.
Lawrence’s whole argument for his bill was that there are physicians who wrongfully prescribe medical cannabis. He later told the Arizona Capitol Times that he became aware this isn’t the case, as physicians review medical records prior to issuing a weed referral.
Moroso agrees that there are people in the field who may issue medical marijuana recommendations left and right, without much medical depth. But this shouldn’t make other physicians like herself a target for tough regulations, she says. She spends at least 45 minutes with each of her patients, carefully examining whether cannabis is even an adequate path to relieve their conditions, she adds.
HCR 2019 also required qualifying patients to get a referral for a new MMJ card every six months, rather than once a year, and made it a class 2 felony to provide medical weed to minors.
Lawrence introduced the measure as a House Concurrent Resolution, meaning it could have become law only if it was approved by voters. But first, it had the burden of getting three-fourths of votes both in the state House and Senate to pass—since it attempted to change a statute that was approved by voters.
Another bill, HB 2061, introduced by state Rep. Kelly Townsend, R-Mesa, would remove pregnant women from the list of patients who qualify for medical weed.
“This [bill] has a tremendous impact on women’s rights and medical rights … [it is] targeting women,” says Mikel Weisser, state director for the Arizona chapter of National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML.
This proposal gained more momentum than Lawrence’s former bill. The measure was assigned to a committee, went through two readings and was scheduled to a hearing on Jan. 19 that was later canceled, Weisser says.
HB 2404: The bill by Republican state Rep. Vince Leach wants to get rid of a discount on medical marijuana card fees for food stamp recipients. Currently, people on food stamps pay the state $75 instead of the regular $150.
HB 2405: Leach is double-dipping with this one. The measure is trying to prohibit marijuana cultivation in roofless facilities, and overall limit where marijuana is grown.
This story is an updated version of the MMJ article that ran in our Jan. 28 print edition.
This article appears in Jan 28 – Feb 3, 2016.
It’s interesting that no actual harm is cited when offering up these proposals. If increased use by minors, cannabis-related traffic fatalities or hospital admissions or injuries or anything negative at all was occurring because of legal access to marijuana, then some of these proposals might make sense. Instead, there is simply mindless resistance to responsible cannabis use by adults…just because…ummmm…because…?
first and foremost the title 13 criminal code needs to be amended to say anything under1 ounce is simple possession. This is what is pushing the sheep into the sheering pen. Bill Montgomery and several state legislature and county attorneys are scaring the beejeebies of of people to get this genie out of the bottle called ” MARIJUANA DEPARTMENT OF LICENSE AND CONTROLS” It is unfathomable that Maricopa county is the only county that prosecutes first time small amounts as a felony. Take this away and the MPP proposal is now the same menacing laws as always.
I believe the system would work better for medical if they would license only medical professional to administer the MMJ. with a cap on how many patients a physician can have.
Have all medication administered through these caregivers. All medication that would be available to patients would be tested by the department of agriculture. It would be that department in control of intellectual license product testing for recreational and done by the state for medical. This Department of Agriculture will work in conjunction with all research and learning institutions. any and all intellectual properties will be the property of the state.
The state with the formation of a marijuana board that is under the control of Alcohol & Tobacco prevailing board. All monies collected will go into the general fund on recreational purchases. All monies collected from intellectual properties gained through State studies or involvement and sales will go directly into the medical program.
The medical will and must come up with comprehensive study of the Cannabis plant for medical therapies that does not include abuse or addiction as the main collective interest. Any and all studies relating to Recreational or Medical Marijuana will be made public and made available to nonassociated peer review.
After contemplating the story again, as I await my turn at medical treatment non mmj. I know of several dispensaries that are not aligned with ADA and caregivers as well. So I would guess that I am slow to see the forest for the trees. I will then take it as anyone in the Current industry in AZ. If they do not conform to standards that some say are in place by the industry itself. They will be left out and ostracized by the industry and the Herman Goering ” DEPARTMENT OF LICENSE AND CONTROLS ” ?
It appears a lobbing effort is being put in place to have the right people on the ” DEPARTMENT OF LICENCE AND CONTROLS”
we need to let the dispensaries go recreational don’t give them a department of anything. They have done little to help medical but to garner market control. It is a cash and carry business. If anyone now in the marijuana industry in AZ has not amortized their initial investment return. We don’t need to prop a failing business models with market felony heavy enforcement. Things evolve much like how we shop on line today we don’t limit the amount of stores.
I just watched a 2 day seminar on the positive aspects of marijuana and how to possibly implement into their live without having the psychoactive effect. Not one of the dispensaries sent me notice of this. They did send me specials punch cards concerts invitations. We all know in flower the lower part is less potent than he top. So these dispensaries growers harvest in groups lower shake, mid plant , top. Then it is the lower and mid plant that they put out for tuesday specials. This is why the State of Arizona needs to work into a program that the State owns and the facilities and the equipment for all MMJ testing. They can contract out the operation but the testing distribution for medical will only be by the State of AZ. Then in time infuse it with the FDA guidelines that are forth coming. Then allow for interstate of MMJ on a national market by FDA established guidelines.
Can you just imagine the quagmire of legal suits? Market controls, criminal enterprising, local municipalities screaming, addiction marketing companies all clamoring for states rights controls. When it become recreational legal till they regain the medical? And then we will be stuck with a noneffective ” MARIJUANA DEPARTMENT OF LICENSE AND CONTROLS”. When the Feds change the schedule it is a new game in town we dont need to build a coliseum for a sport that will never happen.
but give em all the alcohol they want,,,, cannabis is safer than alcohol,,, if cannabis is going to remain illegal than make alcohol illegal !!!!!,,,,, stop the lies, legalize 2016 !!!!!!!!
“because at a national level marijuana is still a Schedule 1 drug—meaning it is considered more harmful than methamphetamine.”
Huh? ¿WTF?
I’ve known, encountered and/or dealt with many a person over the years who have been involved with one or the other and…what a load of horseshit! Anyone who doesn’t have their head jammed so far up their ass that that they can tickle their lungs with their tongue knows that meth is WAAAY more damaging. No wonder why many of us lost our faith in anything that is “at a national level” years ago. Unacceptable!!
Colorado has done a very comprehensive study into the revenue and market of Marijuana. This study is comprehensive as the participants as who is the consumer and what they represent as purchasing power in that market. https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/sites/default/files/Market%20Size%20and%20Demand%20Study,%20July%209,%202014%5B1%5D.pdf
This study done over a four period is very informative as it is very close to Arizona population diversity. Some of the absolutes described in this study need to be understood. While colorado allowed for small home grows it was just to expensive. To post so many police at home grow oversight was taking the whole of the enforcement budget;….. conclusion Didn’t work
Just who buys Marijuana in Colorado? ……… By this government non-market driven study. It was extrapolated that after 4 years of legal recreational Marijuana was available that including medical. Study revealed that In the past, most researchers used a single, average annual consumption amount in order
to compute total demand. However, recent literature such as Caulkins (2011), Kilmer (2013), and Zeisser (2011)
show that an average rate is unreliable, and that heavy users account for the vast majority of marijuana demand in
all markets.
So I ask anyone interested in legalizing Marijuana with the MPP’s proposal is really going to effect a small amount of people. And of those people the dispensary wants to cash in on your addiction. Put you in prison for just growing a plant never mind selling it. Take your property call you a felon limiting your employment prospects. take away right to vote own guns and parental rights go too.
To say this if nothing else if you rely on Marijuana therapy learn to grow. We have County attorney’s that are prosecuting every single first time simple possession as a felony. So in one county you get a fine or a order to attend a drug and dependence class. In Maricopa county you are charged with a felony for possession of marijuana, felony for possession of drug paraphernalia bong, pipe, whatever. A suspect might might be charged with resisting arrest, public intoxication if smoking around a public setting even a concert. A suspect can possibly have his diving ability suspended pending investigation of the DOT.
When people that responded with somethings as simple as your paranoid or nonsense. They are appealing to the mindless minions that are going to the punch card, daily specials, happy hour pricing, Soon I will be looking for Ladies day for medication.
It is simple it you are a consumer of Marijuana for medical reasons. Depending on the ailment you will probably become a heavy user. As has Colorado figured out 29% of Marijuana users consume 87% of the available Marijuana sold. This legalization effort wont help you one bit in fact it penalizes you, further keeps you dependent and a second class citizen. Why wont MPP disclose their financial contributors ? And it is these people that we are to trust that say that is none of your business who pays us. It is these “Arizona Medical Marijuana Association” who helps fund these charlatans. In a previous post one eludes to self governing for testing and pesticides as success. Just where is The AZDHS standards they aren’t enforced why not. They have the monies inside lobbing efforts by NORMAL and ADA to hinder and hold to implement when their Gestapo rules and stands “legalize Like Alcohol” passes.
If this passes the legalize like alcohol I for one will buy exclusively on the street or on the illegal market. I would not give a penny for a association affiliate that puts my neighbor in jail for planting the amount needed for their ailment. Simply because they want to profit from the unable, the mentally challenged the addicted the physically impaired. Yea people that have access to mom’s pocket book or the neighbor’s shed even tho they are 30 years old. So they can get their hit for the day. Keep then strung the Pawn shops, Used tool shops with have a bounty of items.
I have worked in the construction trade in the southwest for over 40 years. I have hired bus loads of day laborers some for months at a time. Most are Alcoholics ever notice how far a check cashing business and liquor store are from a day labor office? And several of the dispensaries want to string out the clientele and limit the supply to the heaviest users by limiting the amount of retail outlets. This alone will keep the illegal underground market going. So the new prohibition governing police body the “Marijuana Department Of License and Controls” can bust all of these and collect a revenue by promoting the use brillant. And the New police department will have control over writing rules till 2022 so it can become a limited autonomous department of Government. Yea we will have the state of AZ and the police of marijuana of AZ two different entirely different government’s inside one government.
Nonsense is any kind of validation of supporting MPPs proposed “legalize Like Alcohol”………….AZFMR is a grass roots user completely non-collectively funded group of heavy users. It is these people that really control the use and need of the product in Arizona. Throw enough of the under the bus for growing for their ailment. Now the size of the enforcement will grow and guess what we are back where we started in 1937 haven’t learned a fucking thing but who to point a finger at.
The use of Marijuana is a National Issue and should be treated as such. As it is, Federal Law is in conflict with efforts by States to make Marijuana available for Medical purposes.
Congress should amend the Controlled Substances Act of 1970: Controlled Substances Act (CSA) (21 U.S.C. § 811). making Marijuana available for Medical Treatment. Its’ use for Medical purpose should be supported by Scientific evidence, including Clinical Trials, and regulated by the FDA; closely monitored by the tending Physician and State Department of Health.
“Medical Marijuana” should be available by Prescription only (in a Pharmacy); issued by a Licensed Physician closely monitored by both the tending Physician and State Department of Health.
Marijuana was outlawed for two major reasons. The first was because “All Mexicans are crazy and marijuana is what makes them crazy.” The second was the fear that heroin addiction would lead to the use of marijuana – exactly the opposite of the modern “gateway” nonsense.
Only one MD testified at the hearings for the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937. The representative of the American Medical Association said there was no evidence that marijuana was a dangerous drug and no reason for the law. He pointed out that it was used in hundreds of common medicines at the time, with no significant problems. In response, the committee told him that, if he wasn’t going to cooperate, he should shut up and leave.
The only other “expert” to testify was James C. Munch, a pharmacologist. His sole claim to fame was that he had injected marijuana directly into the brains of 300 dogs and two of them died. When they asked him what he concluded from this, he said he didn’t know what to conclude because he wasn’t a dog psychologist. Mr. Munch also testified in court, under oath, that marijuana could make your fangs grow six inches long and drip with blood. He also said that, when he tried it, it turned him into a bat. He then described how he flew around the room for two hours.
Mr. Munch was the only “expert” in the US who thought marijuana should be illegal, so they appointed him US Official Expert on marijuana, where he served and guided policy for 25 years.
If you read the transcripts of the hearings, one question is asked more than any other: “What is this stuff?” It is quite apparent that Congress didn’t even know what they were voting on. The law was shoved through by a small group of lunatics with no real awareness by anyone else of what was happening.
See http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/History/wh… for an entertaining short history of the marijuana laws.
See http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/taxac… for the complete transcripts of the hearings for the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937.
The question of what to do about drugs is not a new one. Over the last 100 years there have been numerous major government commissions around the world that have studied the drug laws and made recommendations for changes. You can find the full text of all of them at http://druglibrary.org/schaffer under Major Studies of Drugs and Drug Policy.
They all reached remarkably similar conclusions, no matter who did them, or where, or when, or why. They all agreed that the current laws were based on ignorance and nonsense, and that the current policy does more harm than good, no matter what you assume about the dangers of drugs. You don’t have to take my word for that. Read them yourself.
If you are new to the collection, start with Licit and Illicit Drugs at http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/st… That is the best overall review of the drug problem ever written. If you only read one book on the subject, make it that one. It will give you a good summary of what you would learn if you read all the other major reports.
In 1973, President Nixon’s US National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse completed the largest study of the drug laws ever done. At the end of their study, they said the real drug problem was not marijuana, or heroin, or cocaine. The real drug problem, they said, was the ignorance of our public officials who keep spouting off with solutions but have never read the most basic research on the subject.
In a perfect illustration of their point, Nixon refused to read his own commission’s report. The full text can be found at http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/st…
This is purely the result of ignorance combined with a ‘For Profit’ penal system and benefitting Big Pharma. The isn’t any legitimate justification for marijuana being illegal; it serves no purpose other than to support Big Pharma and the penal system. Which is why ‘The Land of the Free’ has the largest percentage of it’s populace locked up at any given time. So much for their claims of wanting a smaller, less-intrusive government.