The Arizona House Committee on Military, Veterans and Regulatory Affairs approved SB1420 in a 7 – 1 vote, moving it a step closer to passage. The bill would require testing of all medical marijuana products, regardless of product type. Accurate labeling is also included in this legislation.
The bill has passed two voting sessions and still has the full House vote to go, according to Arizona Daily Sun.
Sonny Borelli, who introduced the legislation, says that no one is protecting the state’s medical marijuana patients, and that this bill aims to inform them of what’s really in their medical marijuana. He expressed concern over one chemical – Eagle 20 – which is known to be a heavy carcinogen and used to prevent fungus on different types of plants. Currently, no federal law prevents its use, and it is sometimes used to grow marijuana.
Borelli said, “Why? Because it’s a heavy carcinogen. Well, there’s nothing in federal statutes or federal regulations on marijuana to prohibit that type of product. But I think the patient has a right to know what they’re taking might be making them sicker.”
Kevin DeMenna, a lobbyist for the Arizona Dispensaries Association, is partially on board with SB1420. He is concerned about mold levels on marijuana, saying, “It’s a consumable product and it needs to be labeled. There’s mold in everything.”
Potency testing is also a topic of debate. Hope Jones of C4 Labs in Mesa, who tests marijuana, agrees that patients need to know potencies. Jones says that parents of children who qualify for medical marijuana wonder why some products don’t seem to be working for their kids anymore. One parent brought in six CBD tinctures. Jones said, “All but one was completely negative [containing no CBD]. This parent paid nearly $1,000 for this medicine and it was a fraud.”
Jones continued, “The purpose of having the concentrates and various concentrations is for proper dosing. It is very, very hard to dose accurately when you’re consuming as a smoke.” Jones suggests non-smokable medical marijuana products.
Another piece of legislation, HB 2064, has also advanced. This legislation would require medical marijuana packaging to not be attractive to children. The vote was 52-5 in favor of the bill. It now moves on to the Senate for a vote.
Representative Pamela Powers Hanley voted against HB 2064 saying that, “If you don’t want a child to get a THC-infused gummy bear, you keep it locked up.”
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