Prop 203 passes in Arizona!
Medical Marijuana is now legal in Arizona. It will now be legal for people with medical conditions such as cancer, to be able to help their pain and related problems with a natural substance instead of only synthetic pill options.
Showing posts with label Arizona Medical Marijuana Policy Project. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Arizona Medical Marijuana Policy Project. Show all posts
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Monday, May 18, 2009
Arizona’s medical marijuana - About the Initiative
Right now, Arizona patients battling cancer, AIDS, and other life-threatening diseases face prison for trying to relieve their pain. By passing this initiative, we can stop this cruel and unnecessary policy.
What would Arizona’s medical marijuana initiative 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.
Medical marijuana users could get legal anti-discrimination protections
An initiative drive launched recently would give some people who are prescribed marijuana and test positive for the drug on the job the same legal anti-discrimination protections against getting fired as women and minorities.
The measure, dubbed the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act, would allow doctors to essentially prescribe marijuana to patients who are suffering from any one of a specific set of conditions. It also would allow creation of a network of nonprofit shops that would sell marijuana to those who have those prescriptions and allow those not within 25 miles of a shop to grow their own.
Backers need to gather 153,365 valid signatures by July 1, 2010, to put the measure on the ballot that year. The plan, modeled after similar laws in other states, requires only "written certification" from a doctor to get up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana every two weeks. The drugs would come from nonprofit dispensaries, though the question of where they get their plants or seeds is not addressed.
Campaign manager Andrew Meyers said there are differences in this plan designed to make it less subject to abuse than the California model, like distance restrictions of these shops from schools.
There also is a list of medical conditions that could be treated with marijuana, ranging from glaucoma and AIDS to chronic or debilitating conditions that lead to severe and chronic pain, severe nausea, seizures, or severe and persistent muscle spasms.
What it also contains, though, are anti-discrimination provisions, including one that an employer cannot make hiring, firing and disciplinary conditions based on a person's status as the holder of a medical marijuana card. Potentially more significant, that protection extends to someone who tests positive for drugs unless the person used or possessed marijuana on the job or was "impaired" during work hours.
Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall said the problem is proving what constitutes impairment. With alcohol, she said, it's easy. Tests determine a blood- alcohol level. And there are standards in both state and federal laws that determine what level constitutes impairment. That doesn't exist for marijuana.
Attorney Don Johnsen, who specializes in labor law, said the language, similar to laws that prohibit discrimination on race, religion or gender, will lead to a lawsuit every time a company fires or refuses to hire someone with a medical marijuana card if he or she is found positive. Johnsen said each side will hire medical experts to argue to a jury whether a specific reading of a metabolite of marijuana shows the person was impaired.
Meyers agreed that the question of what happens to a worker who tests positive "becomes a question for the courts." But Meyers said he's not concerned about employer rights in these cases.
"We don't believe that someone that is using a medication that their doctor recommends to them should be fired because they're following a doctor's advice," he said, adding marijuana should not be treated different from other prescriptions.
Johnsen, however, pointed out that employers are now free to fire people for virtually any reason at all, including showing up at work under the influence of other legal drugs.
Another provision says schools could not refuse to enroll and landlords could not refuse to rent to those entitled to use medical marijuana unless they would lose dollars or licensing because of federal laws.
And the use of marijuana for medical purposes could not be taken into account in child custody or visitation disputes, nor would it be evidence of neglect or child endangerment "unless the person's behavior creates an unreasonable danger to the safety of the minor as established by clear and convincing evidence."
Nothing in the Arizona proposal, like those approved in other states, would immunize anyone from prosecution under federal drug possession laws. But the record so far has been federal agents have shown little interest in going after individuals for possessing small amounts of marijuana.
The measure, dubbed the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act, would allow doctors to essentially prescribe marijuana to patients who are suffering from any one of a specific set of conditions. It also would allow creation of a network of nonprofit shops that would sell marijuana to those who have those prescriptions and allow those not within 25 miles of a shop to grow their own.
Backers need to gather 153,365 valid signatures by July 1, 2010, to put the measure on the ballot that year. The plan, modeled after similar laws in other states, requires only "written certification" from a doctor to get up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana every two weeks. The drugs would come from nonprofit dispensaries, though the question of where they get their plants or seeds is not addressed.
Campaign manager Andrew Meyers said there are differences in this plan designed to make it less subject to abuse than the California model, like distance restrictions of these shops from schools.
There also is a list of medical conditions that could be treated with marijuana, ranging from glaucoma and AIDS to chronic or debilitating conditions that lead to severe and chronic pain, severe nausea, seizures, or severe and persistent muscle spasms.
What it also contains, though, are anti-discrimination provisions, including one that an employer cannot make hiring, firing and disciplinary conditions based on a person's status as the holder of a medical marijuana card. Potentially more significant, that protection extends to someone who tests positive for drugs unless the person used or possessed marijuana on the job or was "impaired" during work hours.
Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall said the problem is proving what constitutes impairment. With alcohol, she said, it's easy. Tests determine a blood- alcohol level. And there are standards in both state and federal laws that determine what level constitutes impairment. That doesn't exist for marijuana.
Attorney Don Johnsen, who specializes in labor law, said the language, similar to laws that prohibit discrimination on race, religion or gender, will lead to a lawsuit every time a company fires or refuses to hire someone with a medical marijuana card if he or she is found positive. Johnsen said each side will hire medical experts to argue to a jury whether a specific reading of a metabolite of marijuana shows the person was impaired.
Meyers agreed that the question of what happens to a worker who tests positive "becomes a question for the courts." But Meyers said he's not concerned about employer rights in these cases.
"We don't believe that someone that is using a medication that their doctor recommends to them should be fired because they're following a doctor's advice," he said, adding marijuana should not be treated different from other prescriptions.
Johnsen, however, pointed out that employers are now free to fire people for virtually any reason at all, including showing up at work under the influence of other legal drugs.
Another provision says schools could not refuse to enroll and landlords could not refuse to rent to those entitled to use medical marijuana unless they would lose dollars or licensing because of federal laws.
And the use of marijuana for medical purposes could not be taken into account in child custody or visitation disputes, nor would it be evidence of neglect or child endangerment "unless the person's behavior creates an unreasonable danger to the safety of the minor as established by clear and convincing evidence."
Nothing in the Arizona proposal, like those approved in other states, would immunize anyone from prosecution under federal drug possession laws. But the record so far has been federal agents have shown little interest in going after individuals for possessing small amounts of marijuana.
Marijuana Policy Project hires Riester for campaign
Marijuana Policy Project hired the Riester advertising and communications firm to spearhead a 2010 ballot measure to legalize the medical use of marijuana in Arizona.The proposed voter initiative would make possession of up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana legal for severely ill patients who have a doctor’s recommendation. The measure also would create dispensaries for the drug, but people without access to the locations could grow their own.
Supporters need to collect 150,000 signatures to get the measure on the 2010 November. The group considered a similar measure for the 2008 election, but opted against it.
Medical marijuana advocates say the drug helps ease pain for some patients, including those with multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS and cancer.
Critics, including some in the medical sector, question marijuana’s effectiveness for those uses.
Thirteen states have medical marijuana programs in place. Although the drug is illegal under federal law, the Obama administration said it will not pursue violators in such programs.
Riester also worked on campaigns against bans on gay marriages, which was defeated in 2006 and passed in 2008.
Information on the Arizona Medical Marijuana Policy Project
The issue of legalizing medical marijuana in Arizona has seen a long, slow burn in Arizona.
Voters have approved ballot intiatives several times over the past 13 years, but legal challenges have snuffed-out the practice.
Now, the Arizona Medical Marijuana Policy Project (AMMPP) is collecting signatures to get pot for pain and other purposes on the ballot in November 2010.
The group needs to get more than 150-thousand certified signatures by July of next year to qualify.
If passed, severely ill patients would be able to possess a small amount of marijuana with a doctor's recommendation. Growers and dispensaries would be heavily-regulated by the state, most-likely the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS). Patients living 25 miles or more from a dispensary would be able to cultivate up to 12 marijuana plants for personal use.
Voters have approved ballot intiatives several times over the past 13 years, but legal challenges have snuffed-out the practice.
Now, the Arizona Medical Marijuana Policy Project (AMMPP) is collecting signatures to get pot for pain and other purposes on the ballot in November 2010.
The group needs to get more than 150-thousand certified signatures by July of next year to qualify.
If passed, severely ill patients would be able to possess a small amount of marijuana with a doctor's recommendation. Growers and dispensaries would be heavily-regulated by the state, most-likely the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS). Patients living 25 miles or more from a dispensary would be able to cultivate up to 12 marijuana plants for personal use.
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