By law, the Arizona Department of Health Services has to periodically accept petitions to add new qualifying medical conditions to the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act.
Last year’s petition included depression, migraines, generalized anxiety disorder, PTSD 1, and PTSD 2. The Department of Health Services hired the University of Arizona’s College of Public Health to do a study on the effectiveness of marijuana at treating those medical conditions. After reviewing the study, the Department of Health Services decided there was a “lack of published data regarding the risks and benefits of using Cannabis to treat or provide relief for the petitioned conditions.” Therefore, none of the petitioned medical conditions were included in the Act.
During the week of January 25 – 31, petitions will be accepted again. Arizonans will be able to vote for the opportunity to add new qualifying medical conditions to the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act by visiting the azdhs.gov website.