Stricter regs needed for medical marijuana
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Arizona Capitol Times: Supporters of an effort to legalize medical marijuana in Arizona have taken steps to avoid some of the problems that have riddled California since voters there passed Proposition 215 in 1996.
Californians approved a seven-paragraph initiative that protects physicians, caregivers and medical marijuana patients from prosecution. But it led to a massive outgrowth of doctors who prescribe the drug for just about any malady, a burgeoning and, in some cases, unchecked industry of growing and selling cannabis. It also led to follow-up legislation to provide stricter rules for medical marijuana dispensaries and “caregiver” growers, but even those rules cause confusion.
Since then, 12 more states passed laws authorizing medical marijuana use. Most instances of legalization came at the ballot, but a handful of state legislatures have passed such laws without going to voters. Many of the states that followed California’s lead learned a few things from watching what happened in the Golden State and created additional checks and balances to regulate the growing, selling, licensing and use of medical marijuana.
In contrast to the one-page initiative passed in California, the proposal from the Arizona Medical Marijuana Policy Project is a 35- page document that outlines how supervision and regulation would take place regarding marijuana distribution and the registration of patients who would receive a doctor’s recommendation to use marijuana. “It’s the endpoint of a long evolution and I think it’s the culmination of about a decade and a half of medical marijuana laws,” said Bruce Mirken, a communications director for the Washington, D.C.- based Marijuana Policy Project, the prime sponsor of the Arizona effort.
Supporters in Arizona said it addresses precisely the concerns of those who want stiff regulation and those who intend to seek medical marijuana treatment. “It has the best of all worlds,” said Andrew Myers, a consultant who works for the campaign. “It has the best regulation and it has the best for patient access. It has nonprofit dispensaries so it should be the best for price controls. I think we are going to see a very effective, well-run program in Arizona.”
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