Reefer Madness poster

Cannabis Reform & Tax Cuts: Highs & Lows in #AZLeg (video)

Feb. 20 was another very long Thursday with the House Health and Human Services Committee starting at 8 a.m. and ending at 6:30 p.m., with no lunch and a few hours in between for floor action and introductions. Thank goodness I had time to eat a yogurt cup and apple slices that were in my refrigerator. I had other food, but I never had time to sit down and eat it. (Thank goodness I ate a hearty breakfast.)

Thursday’s low point was in the afternoon when the Republicans passed more than $300 million in tax giveaways in two bills. There are more than a dozen additional tax breaks in the House queue, alone. What the Republicans are doing with these tax giveaways is so incredibly irresponsible… but I digress.

Anyway, today’s video is about the high point of the day (no pun intended) when four marijuana bills passed the health committee, including my bill HB 2840, giving medical marijuana patients the choice between electronic medical marijuana cards and physical cards.

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marijuana leaf

Ducey Uses ‘Reefer Madness’ Scare Tactics to Fight Marijuana Legalization (video)

marijuana leafGovernor Doug Ducey and a representative from a big-pharma-funded PAC snuck into midtown Tucson this week to give business people a one-sided argument on why they should band together to stop Prop 205, the marijuana legalization initiative that will be on the Nov. 8 ballot in Arizona.

Today’s Arizona Daily Star attributes so many misconceptions about marijuana to Ducey and Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk (of Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy) that I’m not sure where to begin. I’ll take them one by one– after the jump.

First, let’s look at the scientific and public health reasons for legalization and for easier access to marijuana for the general adult population. New research on the medical uses of marijuana are being released every day. 

Medical Marijuana Reduces Medicare Prescriptions and Costs

A July 2016 study published in Health Affairs showed an overall drop in prescription drug use among Medicare patients in states where medical marijuana is legal. The 17 states that have medical marijuana also saved $165.2 million in Medicare costs because patients switched to pot.  The research group concluded that if medical marijuana were legal nationwide, the US could see a $468 million decrease in Medicare prescription costs.

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