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ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Sixth Legislature, First Regular Session
AMENDED
medical marijuana; adult use marijuana
Purpose
Conforms various recreational and medical marijuana laws related to the sale, packaging, labeling tracking and advertising of marijuana and marijuana products. Includes post-traumatic stress disorder and autism spectrum disorder in the list of medical conditions qualifying a patient for a medical marijuana registry identification card. Contains requirements for enactment for initiatives and referendums (Proposition 105).
Background
In 2010, Arizona voters approved the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act to establish a regulatory system, overseen by the Department of Health Services (DHS), that allows a dispensary to dispense a permissible amount of medical marijuana to a qualifying patient or the qualifying patient's designated caregiver with a medical marijuana registry identification card. Upon paying the application fee, a person may qualify for a card if the person has been diagnosed with a debilitating medical condition, including cancer, glaucoma, HIV, AIDS, hepatitis C, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Chron's disease, Alzheimer's disease, other chronic or debilitating diseases that cause outlined physiological symptoms and any other medical condition added by DHS. DHS is required to adopt rules and regulations relating to medical marijuana. Monies collected from the sale of medical marijuana must be deposited in the Medical Marijuana Fund before being allocated to outlined entities (A.R.S. Title 36, Chapter 28.1).
In 2020, Arizona voters approved the Smart and Safe Arizona Act which legalized the sale and use of recreational marijuana to Arizonans who are at least 21 years of age, to be regulated and overseen by DHS. Statute prescribes requirements and regulations relating to the sale, packaging, labeling, tracking and advertising of recreational marijuana and marijuana products, including requirements that: 1) recreational marijuana products be labeled with a quick response code that provides testing information about the product; and 2) no marijuana product packaging resemble a human, animal, insect, fruit, toy, cartoon or a food or drink brand that is marketed to children. Monies collected from the sale of recreational marijuana must be deposited in the Medical Marijuana Fund and then allocated to outlined entities (A.R.S. Title 36, Chapter 28.2).
Statute provides a transaction privilege tax exemption (TPT) for propagative materials used in the production of agricultural, horticultural, viticultural or floricultural crops, excluding materials used in the production of any part of the plant cannabis.
If including propagative materials used in producing cannabis in the TPT exemption for propagative materials used in the production of agricultural, horticultural, viticultural or floricultural crops decreases TPT revenues, there may be a fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
All Marijuana
1. Expands and conforms medicinal marijuana testing requirements to recreational marijuana testing requirements, including the requirement that, by December 31, 2023, any marijuana or marijuana product packaging labeled for sale include a consumer scannable tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) quick response code or similar technology linking to a webpage displaying:
a) the date of harvest;
b) the THC strain of the marijuana or marijuana product;
c) the method used to extract THC from the marijuana product;
d) testing results;
e) the date of manufacture of the marijuana product;
f) required warnings, as determined by DHS; and
g) a warning that states: "Keep all marijuana products safe and away from children. If ingested, call poison control: (800) 222-1222."
2. Directs DHS to adopt rules regarding required information for marijuana or marijuana product labels and the webpage linked to the quick response code included on the label.
3. Requires information on the linked DHS webpage to satisfy all marijuana product labeling requirements.
4. Allows monies in the Medical Marijuana Fund and the Smart and Safe Arizona Fund to be used interchangeably to implement and enforce statutory requirements relating to medical or recreational marijuana.
5. Requires recreational and medical marijuana tracking systems to be capable of tracking information DHS determines is reasonably necessary to:
a) ensure accuracy;
b) provide for chain of custody of the information;
c) foreclose data tampering, human error or intentional misreporting; and
d) accomplish the duties, functions and powers of DHS.
6. Allows the Arizona Biomedical Research Centre within DHS to provide $10 million, rather than $5 million, annually for five years in competitive grants for marijuana clinical trials, using monies from the Smart and Safe Arizona Fund, the Medical Marijuana Fund or a combination of both.
Medical Marijuana
7. Requires medical marijuana dispensaries, by December 31, 2023, to procure, develop, acquire and maintain a system to track marijuana and marijuana products at all points of cultivation, manufacture and sale, which must also ensure:
a) an accurate accounting and reporting of the production, processing, and sale of marijuana and marijuana products; and
b) compliance with DHS rules.
8. Requires medical marijuana tracking systems to be capable of tracking, at a minimum, the:
a) propagation of immature marijuana plants and the production of marijuana by a medical dispensary;
b) processing of marijuana and marijuana products by a medical dispensary;
c) sale and purchase of marijuana and marijuana products;
d) the transfer of marijuana and marijuana products between certificated or licensed premises;
e) disposal of marijuana waste; and
f) identity of the person making the entry in the system, as well as the time, date and location of each entry into the system, including any corrections or changes to that information.
9. Requires medical marijuana dispensaries to track, test, label and package marijuana and marijuana products and enforce requirements that these products be:
a) sold to qualifying patients in clearly and conspicuously labeled containers that contain accurate warnings regarding the use of marijuana or marijuana products; and
b) placed in child-resistant packaging on exit from the dispensary.
10. Prohibits medical marijuana dispensaries from:
a) packaging or labeling marijuana or marijuana products in a false or misleading manner;
b) manufacture or sell marijuana products that resemble the form of a human, animal, insect, fruit, toy or cartoon;
c) selling or advertising marijuana or marijuana products with names that resemble or imitate food or drink brands marketed to children; and
d) advertising marijuana products to children.
11. Expands the definition of debilitating medical condition, for purposes of granting eligibility for a medical marijuana registry identification card, to include:
a) post-traumatic stress disorder; and
b) autism spectrum disorder that is diagnosed by a licensed physician or psychologist acting within their scope of practice.
12. Prohibits DHS from charging more than $50 for a medical marijuana registry identification card.
14. Allows a medical marijuana dispensary to engage in advertising practices prescribed for recreational dispensaries.
15. Requires any medical marijuana dispensary advertising involving direct, individualized communication or dialogue to use a method of age affirmation to verify that the recipient is at least 21 years old, including user confirmation, birthdate disclosure or another similar registration method.
16. Allows physician assessments of prospective medical marijuana patients to be conducted in person or via telehealth.
17. Eliminates the exclusion of propagative materials used in producing cannabis from the TPT exemption for propagative materials used to commercially produce agricultural, horticultural, viticultural or floricultural crops.
Miscellaneous
18. Exempts DHS from statutory rulemaking requirements for 36 months for purposes of the regulation of medical and recreational marijuana.
19. Defines terms.
20. Makes technical and conforming changes.
21. Requires for enactment the affirmative vote of at least three-fourths of the members of each house of the Legislature (Proposition 105).
22. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
Amendments Adopted by Committee
1. Exempts honorably discharged veterans of the U.S Armed Forces from the medical marijuana registry identification card application fee.
2. Requires medical marijuana tracking systems to be capable of tracking the transfer of marijuana and marijuana products between certificated or licensed premises.
Senate Action
HHS 2/14/23 DPA 7-0-0
Prepared by Senate Research
February 15, 2023
MM/slp