SUMMARY: Just over 50 percent of voters (50.13 percent) approved Proposition 203 on November 2, 2010. The law removes state-level criminal penalties on the use and possession of marijuana by patients who have “written certification” from their physician that marijuana may alleviate his or her condition. The law took effect on April 14, 2011. Patients diagnosed with the following illnesses are afforded legal protection under this act: cancer; glaucoma; positive status for HIV or AIDS, hepatitis C, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease), Crohn’s disease, agitation of Alzheimer’s disease or any chronic or debilitating medical condition or its treatment that produces one or more of the following: cachexia or wasting syndrome, severe or chronic pain, severe nausea, seizures, including those characteristic of epilepsy, severe or persistent muscle spasms, including those characteristic of multiple sclerosis, persistent muscle spasms or seizures, severe nausea or pain. Other conditions will be subject to approval by the Arizona Department of Health Services. Patients (or their primary caregivers) may legally possess no more than two and one-half ounces of usable marijuana, and may cultivate no more than twelve marijuana plants in an “enclosed, locked facility.” The law establishes a confidential state-run patient registry that issues identification cards to qualifying patients. State-licensed nonprofit dispensaries may produce and dispense marijuana to authorized patients on a not-for-profit basis. Qualified patients who reside within 25 miles of a state-licensed dispensary facility will not be permitted to cultivate marijuana at home. Final rules for the program, physician certification forms, and a frequently asked questions (FAQs) page are all available online at the website of the Arizona Medical Marijuana Program here. http://www.azdhs.gov/prop203/
RECIPROCITY: Yes. The act defines a ‘visiting qualifying patient’ as a person ‘who has been diagnosed with a debilitating medical condition by a person who is licensed with authority to prescribe drugs to humans in the state of the person’s residence.’