I wouldn't be considered a good attorney unless I prefaced this article with a couple of disclaimers: 1) Marijuana remains a controlled schedule I substance and is illegal in the eyes of the Federal Government of the United States; 2) This informative article is not to be construed as legal advice, nor is meant to take the spot of the advice of an attorney, and you need to consult by having an attorney before taking any actions in furtherance of the niche matter of this article. Ok, let's begin.

In the month of November, the State of Arizona passed Proposition 203, which may exempt certain folks from controlled substances laws in the State of Arizona. However, it will still take some time before medical marijuana is implemented as policy in Arizona. The Arizona Department of Health Services has released a proposed timeline for the drafting of the principles surrounding the implementation of Proposition 203. Up to now, these are the important time periods that ought to be paid close awareness of:

December 17, 2010: The very first draft of the medical marijuana rules should really be released and made readily available for comment on this date.

January 7, 2011: This could be the deadline for public discuss the very first draft of rules mentioned above.

January 31, 2011: The second draft of the principles will be released on this date. Once more, it will be readily available for informal comment as in the draft known above.

February 21 to March 18, 2011: More formal public hearings will be held about the proposed rules currently, and the last rules will be submitted to the Secretary of State and made public on the Office of Administrative Rules website.

April 2011: The medical marijuana rules should go into effect and be published in the Arizona Administrative Register.

It is very important that constantly throughout the consultation process, interested parties submit briefs and/or make oral presentations when permitted. Groups with interests contrary to those of medical marijuana advocates are often making presentations thc oil cartridges shipped anywhere, and may convince the State to unnecessarily restrict the substance or those who may qualify to access it when there is no voice to advocate in support of patients' rights.

Some key points about Proposition 203's effects

-Physicians may prescribe medical marijuana because of their patients under certain conditions. "Physician" isn't defined in a way limited on track medical doctors. Osteopaths licensed under Title 32, Chapter 17; naturopaths licensed under Title 32, Chapter 14; and homeopaths licensed under Title 32, Chapter 29 may all be eligible to recommend marijuana because of their patients.

-In order to be prescribed medical marijuana, an individual must be a "qualifying patient." A qualifying patient is defined as someone who has been diagnosed by way of a "physician" (as defined above) as having a "debilitating medical condition."

-Debilitating medical conditions include:
• Cancer, glaucoma, HIV positive status, AIDS, hepatitis C, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Crohn's disease, or agitation of Alzheimer's disease or treating these conditions.
• A chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition or its treatment that produces more than one of the next: Cachexia or wasting syndrome; severe and chronic pain; severe nausea; seizures, including those characteristic of epilepsy; or severe and persistent muscle spasms, including those characteristic of multiple sclerosis.
• Every other medical condition or its treatment added by the Department of Health Services pursuant to Section 36-2801.01.

This last qualifying condition is underlined because it's vitally important through the rulemaking process. Although Proposition 203 makes for the public to petition the Department of Health Services to exercise its discretion to incorporate conditions under this section, bureaucracy is notoriously difficult to access change any law. The initial discretionary rules for additional treatments could possibly be exercised during the public consultations that occur between December and March, though this is not certain.

It is therefore important that, in case that the addition of medical conditions is known as through the consultations, any stakeholder who wishes for a medical problem not listed in the very first two bulleted items above to lobby during the public consultation periods for the Department to incorporate the additional medical condition to the set of debilitating medical conditions. In order to boost the prestige of any presentations designed to justify adding medical conditions under Section 36-2801.01, it may be helpful to solicit the testimony of sympathetic Arizona-licensed medical doctors who can testify on paper and at the public hearings about why the proposed condition should really be added. Documents showing that other jurisdictions, both in the United States and elsewhere, currently use marijuana as cure for the proposed condition might be helpful, as would medical journals on the subject.

It must be remembered that despite his cheery YouTube videos about the medical marijuana rule drafting process, Director of Health Services Will Humble wrote a submission in opposition to the passing of Proposition 203. He did etc the causes that the FDA doesn't test the drug, and even though the federal government's anti-marijuana policy is well-known it will not be relied on as an authority for unbiased medical marijuana research. There's no reason to believe that Director Humble will be any less inclined to obstruct the use of medical marijuana through the rulemaking stage, and all proponents of medical marijuana should make sure to make their voices heard at the consultations to prevent the obstruction of the intent of Proposition 203.