Medical Marijuana Could Be Costly for Arizona
October 11th, 2010
In a month, Arizonians will be voting on Proposition 203, which would allow government regulation of medical marijuana. However, the Arizona Department of Health Services opposes the proposition, claiming it would cause big problems with the apartment.
Health officials say that the state would have to spend up to $1 million and work have a strict deadline of 120 days to implement procedures for dispensing and creating an electronic database to track records. Should the deadline be missed, every doctor approved medical-marijuana application would have to be accepted. Licensed physicians could recommend medical marijuana to patients with cancer, HIV, hepatitis C, glaucoma, and Alzheimer’s, and card holders could receive up to 2.5 ounces every two weeks.
One of the problems the health department cites is the lack of funds, resources, and time to complete the deadline, claiming there is no extra money allocated in the department’s budget. The department is already experiences cuts to the budget and staff.
In order to create a proper staff, the department would have to use current IT staff, but doing so would delay other projects, such as creating an electronic licensing system for assisted-living centers. And if the department fails to meet this requirement, an outside party may be able to gain partial ownership and charge maintenance fees.
To speed up the process, the department’s staff is looking to how other states handle medical marijuana.
