Bill would cut price of cannabis cards in Arizona by $100
Cheaper medicinal cannabis cards and adding autism and post-traumatic stress disorder as conditions eligible to receive a card are two of several changes to cannabis rules in Arizona under consideration at the Legislature.
Sen. T.J. Shope, R-Coolidge is the sponsor of Senate Bill 1466, which passed the House Health and Human Services Committee on Monday after previously clearing the full Senate. That puts the measure just a few votes away from the governor’s desk.
The bill has widespread support, even from members of an advisory committee to the state that the bill would eliminate via one of its provisions.
The major elements of the proposed changes include:
Reducing the maximum price the state can charge for a medicinal cannabis card to $50 from $150. The cards are valid for two years. The cost does not include the fees medical professionals charge to recommend the cards for patients.
Waiving the card fee entirely for military veterans.
Allowing the Department of Health Services to use money collected through the medical cannabis program and recreational cannabis sales interchangeably. Because voters approved medical and recreational cannabis separately there are two funds.
Permitting physicians to make medical cannabis recommendations through telehealth appointments.
Aligning testing requirements for medical and recreational cannabis.
Aligning other portions of the programs, such as prohibiting medical cannabis edibles in the shapes of animals, fruit, toys or cartoons, like the rules for recreational products.
Permitting DHS to allocate $10 million annually for cannabis clinical trials, increasing that figure from the current $5 million.
Adding autism spectrum disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder to the list of medical conditions for which a physician can recommend using medical cannabis.
Eliminating the Medical Marijuana Testing Advisory Council, which was created by statute to recommend testing rules to DHS. DHS would instead conduct quarterly meetings where anyone could comment on laboratory testing requirements for cannabis.
Council recommended closing loopholes
The Medical Marijuana Testing Advisory Council last year recommended to DHS changes to prevent cannabis growers and retailers from cheating and sending samples of cannabis to labs that don’t actually match the products as required. DHS didn’t implement the proposed rules.
The recommendations for new rules sought to close loopholes in the testing regulations to prevent the sale of contaminated cannabis and to improve the accuracy of potency labeling.
Recent investigations by The Arizona Republic have found both contaminated products sold to medical patients and wildly inflated potency claims on cannabis packaging.
But even Tabitha Hauer, owner of Desert Valley Testing in Phoenix, who proposed some of the changes as a member of the Medical Marijuana Testing Advisory Council, said she supports the bill, including the provision to eliminate the council.
“I definitely agree with the autism and the reduced card cost,” she said. “The council is kind of useless if DHS does not implement anything that’s recommended.”
She said the council doesn’t represent the entire industry.
DeMenna said public forums replacing the council is a good trade off.
“By allowing there to be actual public hearings and get information from public sources, I feel like that will be a much better situation,” he said.
The Arizona Dispensaries Association, which represents the big cannabis growers and retailers in the state, strongly supports the bill, and opposes changes proposed by the advisory council.