Exactly five months into the voter-approved program, more than 13,000 Arizonans now have the state's legal permission to get high.
And at this rate, 32,000 of your friends and neighbors will be card-carrying medical marijuana users when the system hits the first anniversary.
But state Health Director Will Humble said he cannot predict ultimately what percentage of Arizonans will become medical marijuana users. He said, though, there is no immediate indication that the figure will hit 200,000 any time soon, the number of people in Colorado - a state of similar size - who possess that state's medical marijuana card.
The latest figures also show that the use of marijuana, at least legally, is not spread equally around the state.
Among the 126 community health districts, the largest numbers are concentrated in a few areas in Scottsdale, north and east Phoenix, as well as the east side of Mesa and southeast Chandler. There also is a pocket in the Peoria area.
But residents of Tucson's Catalina foothills area, and those living on the eastern edge of the city also have lined up for their medical marijuana cards.
And a fair number of Prescott-area residents also are participants.
Humble said there was an initial rush of applications in the days following the April 14 start of the program, with applications coming in at the rate of about 100 a day.
"It's tapered off a little bit," he said. But Humble said the online application system still is getting close to 70 requests each day, leading to his extrapolation of 32,000 users by the middle of next April.
Humble, however, said it's more difficult to make predictions on a longer-term basis.
He pointed out that the cards are good for only one year. And with that annual $150 fee, Humble said some people may decide not to renew.
In some cases, Humble said, their medical situation may have changed. But he said others may have believed that, once they had a card, "they could walk into a dispensary" to pick up their legally permitted 2 1/2 ounces of marijuana every two weeks.
"That's probably not going to be the case any time soon," Humble said. His agency has so far refused to license any dispensaries, with attorneys for the state asking a federal court to first rule whether health department workers who process these applications might be subject to federal prosecution for facilitating the possession and sale of marijuana, which remains illegal under federal law.
Humble also said the restrictions the health department put on the program may account for the fact that there are not more medical marijuana users in Arizona.
"I think we've done as good a job as we possibly can to keep it as medical as possible," he said, versus a program that was really designed to provide recreational users a legal method to obtain their drugs.
That includes various requirements for doctors to examine patients and review medical records. And Humble has asked medical boards to investigate a handful of doctors who appear to be processing applications at a rapid rate, suggesting it appears they were more interested in making money by issuing marijuana certifications than meeting their patients' legitimate medical needs.
Still, Humble said, his rules can go only so far. The voter-approved law which spells out the conditions under which a doctor can recommend marijuana has a broad catch-all category of "chronic pain," a category cited in more than eight out of every 10 applications.
"There are certainly recreational users in the system," he said. "There's no doubt about that. But I'm pleased with the fact that we've done everything that we can to try to keep it as medical as possible."
Arizona Willie posted at 5:09 pm on Thu, Sep 15, 2011.
They are concerned because some doctors have issued quite a few medical marijuana approvals.
So?
There are dozens of doctors who make a good living writing prescriptions for oxycodone and they don't say a word about that. There are pain clinics all over the Valley where you can get a prescription for oxcodone. No problem.
But marijuana! Oh God ... take those doctors license away!!!
Why?
Because the pharmaceutical companies can't make a bundle from it but they can with oxycodone and other pain prescriptions. Until the marijuana dispensaries have bought some legislators with " campaign contributions " they will continue to oppose it.
Elements posted at 9:03 am on Fri, Sep 16, 2011.
This author's bias (and ignorance) is clear - "Arizonans now have the permission to GET HIGH". This is not an issue about getting high; this is an issue about permitting doctors and patients to seek alternatives methods of dealing with their illness. Sure. Recreational users exist and will continue to exist - just like those who take Oxycontin or Valium. Regardless of this law, people have been getting high and will continue to get high if that''s what they want to do - no law is going to stop that and they certainly don't need any ID card. It's suburbia naievete to buy into that premise that the AMMA is bringing marijuana to Arizona.
While I don't use MMJ, I fully acknowledge a person's right to use it if it can help to alleviate severe pain or a debilitating illness. Having watched people with that type of pain, who am I to tell them what they should do to alleviate it? While many of the applications for a card do identify chronic pain, the underlying cause could very well be an illness not identified by DHS such as rheumatoid arthritis or PTSD.
The general public needs to get over it. Realize that MMJ is here to stay in Arizona. instead of focusing on the fact that it's here, the state should have implemented a program that made sense; regulated it and taxed it. We're totally broke and our elected officials have now embroiled us in SIX useless state and federal lawsuits while DHS still issues patient cards and caregiver licenses. Certain people were in an uproar about 124 dispensaries growing under strict controls and now because of this mess, we have more than 13,000 people who can grow anywhere they like with basically reckless abandon. What sense does that make?
While the governor was lying to us telling us that she would implement the will of the people, Will Humble was doing his job. He created an EXCELLENT program athat would have undoubtedly been replicated by states around the country. What did he get for his efforts? He was sold down the river by his boss the Governor, his supposed "attorney", Tom Horne who, despite his client's wishes, was working behind his back, and a private citizen Carolyn Short who obviously had preferential access to the governor's office. It's really unbelievable that Arizona could ruin this program this badly!!
Despite their best efforts, the professionals in the industry are all doing our best to create a legitimate program designed to help those people who need it most, regardless of the obstacles - and biased articles such as this one - placed before us. The will of the people will prevail - Arizona just needs to come out of the dark ages and get over it and more importantly, get with it!
malcolmkyle posted at 6:47 am on Sat, Sep 17, 2011.
Due to the tyrannic and mindless actions of prohibitionists, tens of millions of people world-wide (both users and non-users) have been either killed, maimed, incarcerated or had their lives very seriously disrupted. Prohibitionists are solely responsible for an immense increase in violent organized crime, an AIDS Pandemic and a grave abuse of human rights on a scale barely witnessed in human social history.
Corporate greed and individual bigotry have accelerated us towards a situation where all the usual peaceful and democratic methods needed to reverse the acute damage done by prohibition no longer function as envisaged by the Founding Fathers of our once great and free nation. Such a political impasse coupled with great economic tribulation is precisely that which throughout history has invariably ignited violent revolution.
In order to avert what will surely be a far more violent situation than we are all presently experiencing, there appears to be just one last avenue left to us - Jury Nullification.
Jury Nullification is a constitutional doctrine that allows juries to acquit defendants who are technically guilty, but who don’t deserve punishment. All non-violent drug offenders who are not selling to children, be they users, dealers or importers, fall into this category. If you believe that prohibition is a dangerous and counter-productive policy, then you don’t have to help to apply it. Under the Constitution, when it comes to acquittals, you, the juror, have the last word!
The idea that jurors should judge the law, as well as the facts, is a proud and vital component of American history.
The most shining example of Jury Nullification occurred during the shameful period in US history when slavery was legal. People who helped slaves escape were committing a federal crime - violation of the Fugitive Slave Act. Jurors would often acquit, even when the defendants admitted their guilt. Legal historians credit these cases with advancing the abolition of slavery.
No amount of money, police powers, weaponry, wishful thinking or pseudo-science will make our streets safer; only an end to prohibition can do that. How much longer are you willing to foolishly risk your own survival by continuing to ignore the obvious, historically confirmed solution? - When called for Jury Service concerning any non-violent prohibition-related offense, it is your moral and civic duty to VOTE TO ACQUIT!
“To function as the founders intended, our republic requires that “the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.”
~ THOMAS JEFFERSON, letter to William Stephens Smith, November 13, 1787.
To avoid such carnage and turmoil on a scale not seen in this land since the 1860s, we may have just one last chance.
VOTE TO ACQUIT!