Arizona Medical Marijuana Discrimination by CPS

Arizona Child Protective Services is discriminating against grandparents wanting custody of their grandchildren because they have Arizona medical marijuana cards.

That's what a CPS case worker told me last night. Four of our grandchildren are in CPS custody, and we felt we were being discriminated against because of our medical marijuana use, but no one from CPS would say it out loud until last night.

The Arizona Revised Statutes Section 36-2813, Discrimination Prohibited is quite clear about this, and says, "No person may be denied custody of or visitation or parenting time with a minor, and there is no presumption of neglect or child endangerment for conduct allowed under this chapter, unless the person’s behavior creates an unreasonable danger to the safety of the minor as established by clear and convincing evidence".

I filed a complaint with the Arizona ACLU, so we'll so what happens.........

Writing Arizona's Medical Marijuana Program

As soon as the election is certified, the Arizona Department of Health Services has 120 days to write the rules for Arizona's medical marijuana program. We need to get it right like New Mexico, not fall into the problems California has.

Every time I complain about medical marijuana prices, someone jumps me saying their helping patients. But their not, they’re drug dealers and it’s time we say that..

Truth is, it costs very little to grow marijuana. According to the Rand Drug Policy Research Center who says a well-run 5’ x 5’ hydroponic indoor grow producing 4 harvests per year might yield 10.5 pounds per year with tangible costs of $225 per pound--$75 per pound for electricity and the remaining $150 per pound for other factors. That works out to $14.06 an ounce.

When I checked prices at the Kind Connection Collective in Needles California just across the river from where I live. The retail price of medical marijuana was between $5440 and $8960 a pound. This is what we need to prevent in Arizona.

By law in California and Arizona the plants belong to the patients. These so called collectives take plants that belong to the patients, and sell them back to the patients for as much as $8960.00 a pound. I don’t know about you, but I think something is wrong with that.

It’s time we call drug dealers, drug dealers. I’m sorry, but the only people who can afford medical marijuana are people who are working, not the sick and disabled who need it.

The vast majority of patients needing medical marijuana can not afford it, so much for compassion in California’s Compassionate Use Act. It would cost more than people on disability receive for the medical marijuana they need.

Most people on disability only make around $1000 a month. At Needles California prices, the allowable 2.5 ounces every 14 days in Arizona would cost between $1700 and $2800 a month.

We need to look at New Mexico and Canada’s medical marijuana programs. In New Mexico two of the licensed dispensaries are providing medical marijuana to patients at less than $10 per gram, one for $4/gram ($114/ounce) and one for $5/gram ($142.50/ounce).

When I complain about medical marijuana prices, a lot of angry people attack me saying they need to charge these prices because they might get arrested.

True marijuana is still illegal under federal law, but out of the thousands of dispensaries and collectives very few get raided by DEA. Those are the ones making enormous profits, and under California and Arizona law, you can not profit from medical marijuana.

Dispensary prices vs. street prices. The cost of medical marijuana should have nothing to do with the street price of marijuana. The morphine I take costs .50 cents a pill at the pharmacy, yet it’s worth $15-$20 a pill on the street, so my prescription is worth $1800-$2400. Like medical marijuana, the only people who sell morphine to people in pain for $15-$20 a pill, are drug dealers.

The people who complain the most when I write about the enormous profits made by dispensaries and collectives are the people making all the money. Please someone tell me how a simple to grow plant can be worth almost $9000 a pound.

Lets talk about drug reform and medical marijuana in Arizona

This post, authored by LEAP speaker Jay Fleming, is cross-posted from his blog at The Daily Miner.

As a cop I spent 12 years as a narcotics investigator and three years working uniform patrol. I worked a year on an advanced life support ambulance, and trained as a mobile intensive care unit paramedic in LA during the 1984 Olympics.

Today I speak out against our nation's failed drug policy for LEAP, or Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. LEAP gives a voice to current and former law enforcement and criminal justice professionals who disagree with our nation's current drug policy.

In November, Arizona voters will have the chance to correct our state's medical marijuana law. It's time Arizona stops arresting people with a serious medical condition for using medical marijuana.

Several times Arizona voters have tried to allow sick people access to medical marijuana, but the Legislature has fought its citizens at every turn.

In 1996, Arizona voters approved Proposition 200, the Drug Medicalization, Prevention and Control Act of 1996.

The Arizona Supreme Court found that Proposition 200 in its first year saved Arizona taxpayers $2.56 million. Over three-fourths of the offenders tested drug-free after completing the program. A follow-up Supreme Court study in 2001 found that Proposition 200 saved taxpayers over $6 million in prison costs in its second year.

Despite that two out of three Arizona voters voted for Proposition 200, the Arizona Legislature gutted the legislation, overturning most of the initiative. In 1998, voters approved an initiative making it more difficult for legislators to tamper with voter-approved initiatives in the future.

It's time we tell the Legislature again that the seriously ill have access to medical marijuana.

I hope to talk about the advantages and disadvantages of medical marijuana.