Medical
Marijuana was passed in November 2010 Arizona with Prop 203, becoming the 15th
US State to recognize its medicinal qualities for various debilitating medical
conditions. The Arizona Department of Health Services is now assembling the
Rules and Regulations for its dispensing and usage.
Marijuana was
legal until 1937 in the US. It was commonly prescribed medicinally. The
Marijuana Tax Act was brought before Congress in 1937, which was passed and
placed a tax on the sale of cannabis. This tax equalled roughly one dollar on
anyone who commercially dealt marijuana. The ACT did not criminalize the
possession or usage of marijuana however. The American Medical Association
opposed the bill, arguing that cannabis was not dangerous and that its
medicinal use would be severely curtailed by prohibition. Within 4 years,
medical marijuana was withdrawn from the US pharmaceutical market because of
the law's requirements.
In 1970, the
Controlled Substances Act was passed, making Marijuana a Schedule 1 Narcotic. A
Schedule 1 Narcotic is supposedly one that has a high potential for abuse, no
medical use, and not safe to use under medical supervision. As you will read
soon in this E-Book, a lot of states disagree, and Arizona is the latest to
realize marijuana's benefits medicinally.
In 1996
California became the first state to legalize medical marijuana. The California
Compassionate Use Act, known as Proposition 215, allowed patients freedom from
prosecution with a physician's recommendation. The federal government went
after the initiative and threatened to arrest physicians for recommending it,
but a federal court decision protected physicians under the First Amendment.
Despite
persistence of federal oppositions, numerous states have passed their own
medical marijuana laws, with the latest being Arizona. Canada has also changed
their laws with regards to medical marijuana as well. In 2005, the Supreme
Court upheld the federal ban on marijuana but did not question the validity of
the state laws. Therefore, patients are protected from state prosecution in the
states with legal medical marijuana, but not federal. Both the DEA and Justice
Department have said they don't want to go after patients, only large
traffickers.
There were not
many regulations put into place in California upon passing medicinal marijuana.
Colorado subsequently passed it in 2000. Due to federal regulations neither
state had widespread abuse of medical marijuana with the prospect of federal
prosecution looming.
That all changed
in 2009. President Obama announced his administration would no longer use
federal resources to go after dispensaries and patients as long as they
complied with state laws. Dispensaries began to multiply like rabbits, and
within a few months patients were signing up in Colorado at a rate of 1000 per
day. In Los Angeles alone, medical marijuana dispensaries outnumber McDonald's
and Starbucks by 2 to 1.
Arizona became
the 15th state to legalize medical marijuana with Prop 203 passing in November
of 2010. It was an extremely close vote that took over 11 days after the actual
election to finalize the count. 1.7 million people voted and initially the vote
was 7000 votes against it, but when it was final it won by slightly over 4000
votes.
Voters have
passed medical marijuana in Arizona twice in the past but because of wording
and conflicting federal laws nothing actually went into effect. Marijuana
remains completely illegal under federal law. It is a Schedule 1 Drug under the
US Controlled Substances Act, which means it is regarded as having high abuse
potential and no medical use. Its possession, sale, manufacture, transportation
and distribution for any purpose are against federal law.
However, more
and more states continue to recognized its medicinal purposes. Fifteen states
now have laws permitting medical use of marijuana. These laws exempt patients
from criminal charges for personal possession and/or cultivation of small
amounts with a doctor's recommendation. What this means is since the
overwhelming majority of smaller scale drug offenses are prosecuted by state
law, patients are generally safe in these states from arrest (as long as local
law is followed).
A 2002 Time
magazine poll showed an amazing 80% of Americans supported legalizing medical
marijuana. As you will read in this E-Book, medical marijuana is beneficial to
patients suffering from many debilitating medical conditions such as Glaucoma,
MS, ALS, Cancer, HIV/AIDS, Severe Muscle Spasms, and Chronic Pain.
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