The proposed bill seeks to amend Arizona's medical marijuana laws. It introduces a provision to include any debilitating condition of autism spectrum disorder, specifically mentioning agitation, rage attacks, or self-injurious behavior, as a qualifying condition for medical marijuana use. This expands the list of conditions that currently includes cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, ALS, Crohn's disease, and agitation of Alzheimer's disease.

Additionally, the bill outlines specific requirements for physicians who provide written certification for medical marijuana to qualifying patients under eighteen years of age with autism. These requirements include recommending potency, quantity, and frequency of marijuana use to the patient's caregiver, assessing the patient monthly until a stable dose is achieved, monitoring the patient every six months thereafter, and reporting the results annually to the department. The bill also makes minor language changes, such as replacing "permit" with "allow" in the definition of an "enclosed, locked facility" and adding a comma and the article "a" in the definition of "marijuana."

Statutes affected:
Introduced Version: 36-2801, 36-2823, 36-2801.01, 13-901.03, 36-2811