Robert Celt
New Member
State lawmakers are moving to keep people from using their welfare benefits to purchase medical marijuana, at least directly.
But they've given up in their bid to keep the drug away from pregnant women.
The first measure, HB 2261, is an attempt by Rep. Kate Brophy McGee, R-Phoenix, to plug what she said is a loophole in laws governing the use of Electronic Benefit Transfer cards. Arizona uses them to provide cash benefits for eligible recipients.
Under current law, they cannot be used at liquor stores, racing facilities, tribal casinos and strip clubs. Her measure adds medical marijuana dispensaries to the list.
Not everyone thinks that's a good idea.
Rep. Randall Friese, D-Tucson, pointed out Tuesday that welfare recipients can legally use their EBT cards to purchase prescription medications.
"I have a little trouble just saying you can get your prescription medications but not your medical marijuana," said Friese, who is a physician.
"Medical marijuana is used for a variety of things that help people with chronic pain, glaucoma, anorexia, intractable nausea," he explained, all conditions for which voters decided in 2010 that doctors can recommend the drug to their patients.
Brophy McGee, however, said she's not buying the comparison.
"At this point, marijuana is still not legal on the federal level," Brophy McGee said, pointing out that the welfare dollars are federal funds. And she questioned whether the voter-approved law is working as advertised or is really just a thinly disguised way of people getting the drug for recreational purposes.
"We know that the preponderance of subscribers are young men with chronic pain issues," Brophy McGee said, citing figures from the Arizona Department of Health Services which oversees the program. And she pointed out that more marijuana is sold on New Year's Eve than any other day of the year.
"I know there are people that are concerned about abuse in that system," Friese acknowledged.
"But that's not for me to decide," he continued. "What's for me to decide is being consistent."
Brophy McGee said it's not like her legislation, which is awaiting a vote of the full House, will keep welfare recipients from getting the drug if they need it. She said if they use the benefits to pay for rent, utilities and other needs "if they really felt they needed medical marijuana they could free up other resources."
Even if HB 2261 becomes law, one other loophole remains. The EBT cards are essentially pre-loaded debit cards. And that permits holders to make withdrawals at any ATM and then use the cash for whatever they want.
Separately, Rep. Kelly Townsend, R-Mesa, said Tuesday she is scrapping her legislation which would have made it a crime for a woman who is pregnant to possess the drug. HB 2061 would have overruled any finding by her doctor that the use of marijuana is appropriate.
Townsend said the measure ran into a host of legal problems, including having the state interfere with physician-patient privacy.
Instead, she is proposing language that would be posted at all dispensaries and on each medical marijuana user's ID card warning not only of the medical risks to the fetus but the possibility of arrest – or at least getting questioned by child welfare workers.
Townsend said medical providers already are required to notify police or the Department of Child Safety if a pregnant woman or newborn tests positive for certain drugs. And she said that includes marijuana – including marijuana which has been specifically recommended by a doctor.
She conceded that a woman who was given permission to use marijuana by her doctor probably has a built-in defense against being charged with abuse or having her child taken. But Townsend said it does put the woman into a DCS database.
"I don't ever want to have a file at DCS," she said.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Arizona Lawmakers Eye Stricter Medical Marijuana Rules For Welfare Recipients
Author: Howard Fischer
Contact: Yuma Sun
Photo Credit: WatchDogWire
Website: Yuma Sun
But they've given up in their bid to keep the drug away from pregnant women.
The first measure, HB 2261, is an attempt by Rep. Kate Brophy McGee, R-Phoenix, to plug what she said is a loophole in laws governing the use of Electronic Benefit Transfer cards. Arizona uses them to provide cash benefits for eligible recipients.
Under current law, they cannot be used at liquor stores, racing facilities, tribal casinos and strip clubs. Her measure adds medical marijuana dispensaries to the list.
Not everyone thinks that's a good idea.
Rep. Randall Friese, D-Tucson, pointed out Tuesday that welfare recipients can legally use their EBT cards to purchase prescription medications.
"I have a little trouble just saying you can get your prescription medications but not your medical marijuana," said Friese, who is a physician.
"Medical marijuana is used for a variety of things that help people with chronic pain, glaucoma, anorexia, intractable nausea," he explained, all conditions for which voters decided in 2010 that doctors can recommend the drug to their patients.
Brophy McGee, however, said she's not buying the comparison.
"At this point, marijuana is still not legal on the federal level," Brophy McGee said, pointing out that the welfare dollars are federal funds. And she questioned whether the voter-approved law is working as advertised or is really just a thinly disguised way of people getting the drug for recreational purposes.
"We know that the preponderance of subscribers are young men with chronic pain issues," Brophy McGee said, citing figures from the Arizona Department of Health Services which oversees the program. And she pointed out that more marijuana is sold on New Year's Eve than any other day of the year.
"I know there are people that are concerned about abuse in that system," Friese acknowledged.
"But that's not for me to decide," he continued. "What's for me to decide is being consistent."
Brophy McGee said it's not like her legislation, which is awaiting a vote of the full House, will keep welfare recipients from getting the drug if they need it. She said if they use the benefits to pay for rent, utilities and other needs "if they really felt they needed medical marijuana they could free up other resources."
Even if HB 2261 becomes law, one other loophole remains. The EBT cards are essentially pre-loaded debit cards. And that permits holders to make withdrawals at any ATM and then use the cash for whatever they want.
Separately, Rep. Kelly Townsend, R-Mesa, said Tuesday she is scrapping her legislation which would have made it a crime for a woman who is pregnant to possess the drug. HB 2061 would have overruled any finding by her doctor that the use of marijuana is appropriate.
Townsend said the measure ran into a host of legal problems, including having the state interfere with physician-patient privacy.
Instead, she is proposing language that would be posted at all dispensaries and on each medical marijuana user's ID card warning not only of the medical risks to the fetus but the possibility of arrest – or at least getting questioned by child welfare workers.
Townsend said medical providers already are required to notify police or the Department of Child Safety if a pregnant woman or newborn tests positive for certain drugs. And she said that includes marijuana – including marijuana which has been specifically recommended by a doctor.
She conceded that a woman who was given permission to use marijuana by her doctor probably has a built-in defense against being charged with abuse or having her child taken. But Townsend said it does put the woman into a DCS database.
"I don't ever want to have a file at DCS," she said.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Arizona Lawmakers Eye Stricter Medical Marijuana Rules For Welfare Recipients
Author: Howard Fischer
Contact: Yuma Sun
Photo Credit: WatchDogWire
Website: Yuma Sun
