A new bill would allow medical marijuana cards in the state of Arizona to be more affordable for patients by slashing the renewal fees.
Arizona charges $150 per year for patient cards and requires an annual referral from a physician, which can bring the total annual cost to around $300.
The bill, called SB 1138, would make the initial $150 card application good for the first two years without a second doctor’s referral. After that, cards would have to be renewed annually at a cost of $50 per year instead.
Republican state Sen. Sonny Borrelli, who is sponsoring the bill, stated, “What I’m trying to do is cut some red tape and make it easier on our admin people because the Department of Health is overwhelmed.”
“They have such a short time to get a card out, I see no reason why it shouldn’t last two years.”
Some aren’t enthused with the bill. “About 25 percent of kids who use are getting their marijuana from someone with a medical marijuana card,” remarked Sheila Polk of Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy said, using statistics from the latest Arizona Youth Survey.
“What we all ought to be doing is coming up with strategies to educate our kids and prevent marijuana use,” she said.
Any change to the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act requires a supermajority because of state laws designed to protect voter-approved initiatives. This means that SB 1138 will need the support of three-fourths of both the House and the Senate in order to pass.
