One thing that folks have mentioned on my blog over and over is concern about who will need to submit fingerprints as part of their application under the AZ Medical Marijuana Act. Here’s the short answer: All applicants except a qualifying patient will need to submit a full set of fingerprints before getting a card or license. So the majority of people who want to use medical marijuana will not need to send in fingerprints to the Department. Everyone else (caregivers, dispensary owners and those who work in dispensaries) will need to send in fingerprints. The initiative also says clearly that ADHS can, at its discretion, run a background check on anyone who submits those fingerprints and, if need be, deny the application based on the results.
Qualified Patient Applicants
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About the Author: azdhs-admin
Arlis Jenkins is the Hepatitis C Epidemiology Program Manager at the Arizona Department of Health Services. Her work involves specialized knowledge of state and local jurisdictions, social determinants of
health and harm reduction services including drug user health and sex positivity. She is tasked with hepatitis C elimination planning and strategy implementation, a collaborative project that necessitates
statewide community engagement and the formation of strategic partnerships to increase access to quality hepatitis C prevention and care services for all Arizonans.
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excellent! hopefully this will keep out some of the “riff raff”
Your off to a great start Mr. Humble
If you already have a valid fingerprint card in Arizona do you have to be re-fingerprinted? A fingerprint card is valid for 6 years and lots of caregivers out there already have cards.
Mr. Humble,
This is a positive step forward in processing applications for consideration and/or approval. I know that this is a comment section for this particular blog, however for applications for dispensary owners what would be the process? Also, since there will be roughly 120 (give or take) dispensaries in the Great State of Arizona, how will I as an applicant “assure” my application from being approved against the majority?
Many Thanks!
What if you already have a finger print on file with the state
As I have stated, the Department has 120 days to write the rules and regulations..we do not have any further information (other than what’s on our website at http://www.azdhs.gov) until then.
Kudos Mr. Humble 😉
Thanks Marvin!
Dan- that’s a silly question…of course we all want to know what will get our applications approved. it’s really going to stink if good quality people like myselg (and i’m assuming you) don’t get them and others- (out of staters, people in it for the $, people like Sool who said on tv he’d leave and go to a different state if 203 was not approved) get licenses.
Which non-profit section, under the irs, do dispensaries need to register under, in order to be compliant with the department? ie: (501(c)(4-10)
Nikki-
Our ADHS team is working diligently on writing up the rules and regulations for medical marijuana, a draft copy should be posted on our website at http://www.azdhs.gov sometime in January. We have no further information until the draft rules/regulations are written.
Thanks,
Will
I’m a caregiver for a patient who can’t travel. I don’t want to procure my patient’s marijuana. I’m hoping that there will be marijuana couriers, or that dispensaries will be able to deliver her marijuana so I don’t have to get involved with it but that she will be able to get it.
So after reading the following posts I have a question for everyone to think about, not that I want answered now, but hopefully will be answered though the process Mr.. Humble and his people are working on…
1) How do I, as a person who knows that I will be a patient of medical marijuana, get quality “medical grade” marijuana? As of right now there will be 124 dispensaries. Unlike the states that we do not want to follow in there footsteps as Mr. Humble states(CA,CO,MT,etc..), supply will be based on what these 124 dispensaries produces(according to the law, they must produce the marijuana they will dispense, yes a caregiver can “give” a dispensary marijuana for no out of pocket compensation, but let us all understand that will never happen!) So again all patient’s will be relying on the Arizona Department of Health to chose who they will be giving dispensary license’s to. We are basically crossing our fingers, based on the 3 methods that are possible ways to “choose,”(Mr. Humble posted 3 possible ways they might “choose” who to license) who will be receiving licensing though the ADHS. Since dispensaries will start to receive license’s in April, they way the law states they they are supposed to produce they own marijuana, the public wont even know the quality of marijuana they are producing until 3-4 months after that(growing your own marijuana from seed would even take longer and genetics would not be proven, growing from clones would be in the 3-4 month range and still supply would be low at first). (content removed by editor) The major thing I am, and hope others bring up to the Department is that we want a quality medical grade product and not just anyone can produce it. The thing that the other states do have going for them is that people can choose who they want to acquire medical marijuana from and dispensaries who are not living up to par people do not go to and eventually go out of business(more dispensaries= more competition= higher grade and standards of marijuana). Once 124 lisences have been given(and at least one in every county), we will have to live with who the department has chosen to license. I do not see that all 124 will be able to produce a quality product if the best way to choose who the Department lisences is based on a business plan alone(even if there is a third party who is ranking the applications). It takes years to learn how to grow quality medical marijuana, this is not a process that can be learned in a few months with out major problems arising and then effecting us the public.
Here is an example of what I fear happening.
1) A smart business oriented group comes together and produces a outstanding business plan(Not saying I do not want smart people doing this!).
2)They are given a license.
3)They put together a grow room and have someone start growing what they think is medical marijuana.
4)(At this point there are a few things that could happen that would be very bad for the public) A)the pot is of actual low quality, B) The crop is of the right quality but the entire crop gets one or more of a few ailments(bugs that kill the plants, mold that is not good for people to smoke and to small to be seen by the human eye, fans quit working and the plants die, etc… I could keep going with these things but I’ll stop there.
5) Since one of the things happened in step 4 the patients that use marijuana are effected and not getting the marijuana they need or the marijuana is of low quality.
I really would hope that somehow the ADHS will take what I have said into consideration when giving out licenses.
Christopher,
Our team at ADHS is working very hard writing the rules/regulations, and is taking all things into consideration. Thanks so much for your input we appreciate it!
Will
Mr. Humble,
I just want to say what a relief it is to see someone in Arizona government taking control and moving foreword in a very transparent fashion on this issue. The website and links are working well for all Arizonians to keep us informed and allow for input. I do have 2 questions, One, I understand that the Nov.29th deadline to certify the voting and officially set Prop 203 in motion needed to be signed and that to date has not happened. Is that true and how will that effect all deadlines. Second, what is the official date you will start accepting applications for dispensaries.
Once the election is certified and the Governor issues a proclamation declaring the measure to be law, the Department has 120 days to adopt, through an exempt rulemaking process, a regulatory system for the distribution of marijuana for medical use.