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ARIZONA MEDICAL MARIJUANA PROGRAM NEWSLETTER

Volume 1, Issue 1

Arizona Medical Marijuana Program Newsletter

July 2013

UPDATING AND INFORMING QUALIFYING PATIENTS

Notices and Upcoming Dates

Welcome

More than two years ago, Arizona voters approved the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act. The law required the Arizona Department of Health Services to set up a card service for qualifying patients and designated caregivers.

The Department also had to create a system for 126 dispensaries. Last

August, the Department began allocating certificates, and now there are dozens of dispensaries open.

The Department will send a list of dispensaries to patients monthly and include information you may want to know. Look for your opportunity to ask questions and help make this your newsletter.

Add to the Debilitating Medical Conditions List

This month the Arizona Department of Health Services will accept petitions to add to the debilitating medical conditions list. The petitions will be accepted July 24-July 31. The Department will accept petitions again in January 2014.

The list currently includes eight conditions. A patient with a condition on the list may be certified by a physician to use medical marijuana.

This is the fourth time the Department has accepted petitions. Petitioners submitted requests for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Depression, Migraines, and others in the past. To date, no new conditions have been added to the list.

A petition must include the petitioner's contact information, facts about the condition and current treatments, and other evidence in order to be considered. Petitions that meet all the requirements will go through other steps before being approved. A public hearing is one of the final steps.

To learn more about how to submit a petition to the Department, visit .

Remember, if you wish to submit a petition, you must do so between July 24th and 31st, 2013 or wait until January 2014.

IN THIS ISSUE

How the opening of dispensaries affects qualifying patients

Patients experience changes in how the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act applies

to them as dispensaries open across the state. Page 3

Driving under the influence of alcohol and marijuana

A recent study found that the combination of alcohol and marijuana

affects regular users more than nonregular users while driving- Page 4

Your Questions

This section answers some of your most commonly asked questions- Page 5

List of Operating Dispensaries

An updated list of operating dispensaries- Page 6

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New Color Coded Cards

Arizona Medical Marijuana Registry Identification cards are now printed with colored bars. These bars identify each card type. ADHS will not re-print existing cards with the new color scheme. Cardholders will receive a color coded card if and when a new card is issued.

The Importance of your Email Address

Some patients choose to go to medical marijuana clinics or certification centers for help with their application, but the Arizona Department of Health Services does not have a relationship with these places. That means any fees the clinics or centers may require are not part of the payment required by ADHS.

Patients should ask to have their personal contact information on the application (i.e. email address and phone number). The application asks for (and ADHS strongly encourages) patients to use their personal contact information. This way all material associated with their application or the program is sent directly to the patient. These materials include notices of approval or deficiencies, requests for information, updated lists of dispensaries, notices of clinical trials, and this newsletter.

EMAIL ADDRESS CHANGE

Please contact us at m2programsupport@ if you would like to change your email address.

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DID YOU KNOW?

Guidelines and Clarifications to the Statute and Rule

The Arizona Medical Marijuana Act limits how much marijuana a patient can possess. A patient can have 2.5 ounces of medical marijuana. They can purchase this much from a dispensary in a 14-day period.

The Arizona Medical Marijuana Act does not allow possession or use of medical marijuana on a school bus, in a correctional facility, or on the grounds of a preschool, primary school, or high school. Patients cannot smoke in a public place.

FAST FACTS

89%

Of Arizonans now live within 25 miles of an operating dispensary. Patients who live within this distance cannot grow their own marijuana.

The 25 mile distance is always measured from the patient's residential address, not the designated caregiver's address. It is also measured as the crow flies, not by driving miles.

How the opening of new dispensaries affects qualifying patients

Some patients will notice changes in how the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act applies to them as dispensaries open around the state. The law says that patients who live within 25 miles of an operating dispensary cannot grow their own medical marijuana. This was part of what voters passed, and ADHS cannot change it.

Patients can always check if their address is within the 25 mile boundary with the Cultivation Boundary Checker: ov/GeocodeAddress.aspx.

Current registry identification cards will also display the status of the patient. It will state "Authorized to Cultivate" or "Not Authorized to Cultivate" at the bottom of the card.

Patients who cultivate should

More dispensaries open means

remember they agreed not to

fewer patients can grow. Right

give marijuana to people who

now, almost 90% of Arizonans

should not have it. The law also

live within 25 miles of a

does not allow them to sell the

dispensary.

leftover. That means they cannot

accept anything when they give

The Department

marijuana to other patients.

was able to allow

QUESTIONS?

curent approved growers to continue. However, they may not be granted

Email m2programsupport@. Patients can also live chat with program staff Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The live chat function can be found by visiting the program's

authorization to

website,

cultivate when they apply for renewal or make changes to

For dispensary questions, please email m2dispensaries@.

their card.

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Research and Studies Relating to the Use of Marijuana

The Arizona Medical Marijuana Act says patients cannot drive under the influence of marijuana. Doing so is illegal and extremely dangerous, especially when mixed with alcohol. To protect yourself and others, never drive under the influence of marijuana or alcohol.

Driving under the influence of alcohol, marijuana, or both has been found to worsen driving skills. Alcohol and marijuana lead to more injuries and deaths to drivers than any other drug. The authors of "The effect of cannabis and alcohol on simulated driving: Influences of dose and experience" studied how the amount of marijuana used and the user's experience affected driving. Their conclusions were somewhat surprising.

Participants were given drinks so their blood alcohol content (BAC) was 0.0% (the placebo group), .04% (a low amount),

or .06% (a high amount). Similarly, the participants getting marijuana had THC levels of 0.0% (the placebo group), 1.8% (a low amount), or 3% (a high amount). This resulted in 12 possible conditions for participants based on their BAC and THC levels. Neither the researchers nor participants knew who had

consumed the marijuana or alcohol or how much they were given.

alcohol and marijuana were taken together.

Not surprisingly, the study also said that driving errors were common when the driver was under the influence of marijuana in any amount, even without alcohol.

Participants drove in a simulator after they reached the correct level of alcohol and/or marijuana. Researchers studied the results from the simulator. They looked for examples of speeding, crossing over traffic lines, and other signs of dangerous driving.

The results of the study showed both alcohol and marijuana caused more reckless driving. This included swerving, slower reaction time, less vehicle control, etc. The combination of alcohol and marijuana made the driving even worse. Levels of "THC detected in blood [are] higher when THC is consumed with alcohol," the article explained.

The study said that the alcohol made the more experienced marijuana smokers' driving worse than the non-users' when the

ARTICLE INFORMATION

"The effects of cannabis and alcohol on simulated driving: Influences of dose and experience"

Downey, Luke A. ; King, Rebecca ; Papafotiou, Katherine ; Swann, Phillip ; Ogden, Edward ; Boorman, Martin ; Stough, Con

Accident Analysis and Prevention, 2013, Vol.50, pp.879-886 [Peer Reviewed Journal]

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Common Questions

The Department receives many questions about the program every day. You can submit any questions you would like answered in the newsletter by emailing m2programsupport@. Check here for answers to some of the most commonly asked questions.

Q UESTION:

Can I be fired from my job for using marijuana?

ANSWER:

The Arizona Department of Health Services cannot give legal advice, but the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act says that unless a failure to do so would cause an employer to lose a monetary or licensing related benefit under federal law or regulations, an employee cannot be fired for being a medical marijuana patient. It also says an employer cannot punish an employee for having a positive drug test (for the underlying components). The statute doesn't protect an employee that uses, possesses, or is impaired while at work. You may want to talk to an attorney if you have legal questions or feel you were treated unfairly at work. (ARS 36-2813, ARS 36-2814)

Resources Arizona Department of Health ServicesMedical Marijuana Program

Website: (includes chat function) Email: m2programsupport@ or m2dispensaries@

Frequently Asked Questions:



Poison Control Hotline

Phone: 1-800-222-1222

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List of Operating Arizona Licensed Dispensaries--as of 06/28/2013

Dispensary Name Natural Relief Clinic Inc. Organica Patient Group Inc. Cathy's Compassion Center The Desert Valley Pharmacy Inc. Jamestown Center High Mountain Health LLC RCH Wellness Center LLC DBA: Greenhouse of Flagstaff Arizona Organix PP Wellness Center DBA: The Greenhouse Valley of the Sun Medical Dispensary Inc. CJK Inc. Herbal Assist Inc. DBA: Mohave Green The Kind Relief Arizona Natures Wellness DBA: Bloom Sky Train Phoenix Relief Center Inc. The Giving Tree Center of North Phoenix Inc. Wickenburg Alternative Medicine LLC Zonacare DBA: Bloom Sedona Phytotherapeutics of Tucson Natural Relief Clinic Inc. All Greens Inc. Verde Dispensary DBA: Harvest of Tempe Earth's Healing Inc. Green Medicine DBA: Southern Arizona Integrated Therapies PurpleMed Inc. Rainbow Collective Inc. The Green Halo LLC MMJ Apothecary Cannabis Research Group Inc. DBA: Route 66 Wellness Center

Address 1191 S. Naco Hwy 856 S. AZ Route 89 1825 W. Dragoon Road 1302 W. Industrial Dr. Bldg #7 3755 W. Houser Rd. 1250 S. Plaza Way Ste A 460 N. Switzer Canyon Dr, Suite 100 5301 W. Glendale Ave. 8160 W. Union Hills Dr. Ste A 106 16200 W. Eddie Albert Way 2095 Northern Avenue 6870 S HWY 95 Ste 251 1500 Coppermine Rd. 14 S. 41st Pl. 6330 S. 35th Ave. Ste 104 21617 N. 9th Ave. 511 E. Main St. 465 Jordan Rd. 1633 S. Highway 92, Suite 7 334 E. Main Street 13431 W. Westgate Dr. Suite #103 710 W. Elliot Rd. Ste 102 2075 E. Benson Highway 112 S. Kolb Rd. 1010 S. Freeway Suite 130 4695 N Oracle Rd. Ste #117 7710 S. Wilmot Rd. 1175 W. Wickenburg Way Ste 4 341 E. Route 66

City Bisbee Chino Valley Cochise Coolidge Eloy Flagstaff Flagstaff Glendale Glendale Goodyear Kingman Mohave Valley Page Phoenix Phoenix Phoenix Quartzsite Sedona Sierra Vista Springerville Surprise Tempe Tucson Tucson Tucson Tucson Tucson Wickenburg Williams

Zip Code

85603 86323 85606 85128 85231 86001 86001 85301 85308 85338 86409 86440 86040 85034 85041 85027 85346 86336 85635 85938 85378 85284 85714 85710 85745 85705 85756 85390 86046

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