Medical marijuana initiative headed to ballot!

Last update: June 2, 2010

On June 1, the Arizona Secretary of State informed the Arizona Medical Marijuana Policy Project, a ballot initiative campaign backed by MPP, that its medical marijuana initiative has qualified for the November 2010 ballot!
 
Here is what this initiative would do:

• Allow terminally and seriously ill patients who find relief from marijuana to use it with their doctors’ approval.
• Protect these seriously ill patients from arrest and prosecution for the simple act of taking their doctor-recommended medicine.
• Permit qualifying patients or their caregivers to legally purchase their medicine from tightly regulated clinics, as they would any other medicine — so they need not purchase it from the criminal market.
• Permit qualifying patients or their caregivers to cultivate their own marijuana for medical use if a regulated medical marijuana clinic is not located within 25 miles of the qualifying patient.
• Create registry identification cards, so that law enforcement officials could easily tell who was a registered patient, and establish penalties for false statements and fraudulent ID cards.
• Allow patients and their caregivers who are arrested to discuss their medical use in court.
• Keep commonsense restrictions on the medical use of marijuana, including prohibitions on public use of marijuana and driving under the influence of marijuana.

This won't be the first time a medical marijuana initiative has been on the ballot. In 1996, 65% of Arizona voters supported a medical marijuana initiative. Unfortunately, a drafting flaw in the initiative made it ineffective. AMMPP's initiative is careful crafted to provide true protection to the seriously ill.
 
If you are, or you know, a patient who might benefit from medical marijuana, or a supportive medical professional, social service worker, law enforcement officer, or clergy member, we would like to hear from you. Please contact Andrew Myers of the Arizona Medical Marijuana Policy Project at amyers@stoparrestingpatients.org or 602-462-2291.

Learn about Arizona's marijuana laws

Did you know that Arizona has some of the harshest marijuana penalties in the country? For example, the penalty for possession of just one ounce of marijuana carries a potential penalty of 18 months in jail and a $150,000 fine! And the state is ranked 16th in the country in terms of arrests per 100,000 citizens. You can learn more about Arizona's marijuana penalties and enforcement by reading this report by Jon Gettman, Ph.D.

Stay Connected

To stay updated on the status of marijuana policy reform in Arizona, be sure to subscribe to MPP's free legislative alert service, if you haven't done so already.