Access to medical marijuana in Arizona would be eased under a proposed ballot initiative filed on Thursday.
The ballot proposal would lower the yearly cost of a medical marijuana patient card from $150 to $10 and expand the conditions that would qualify a patient for a card to include anxiety, depression, and premenstrual syndrome, among other conditions.
The legalization of recreational marijuana failed a statewide vote in this month’s election, which was a factor that led Tim Cronin to file the proposal with the Arizona Secretary of State.
Cronin, the director of an Apache Junction medical marijuana patient facility, needs to collect more than 150,000 valid signatures before his plan would be placed on a statewide ballot.
Cronin said some patients who otherwise qualify for a medical marijuana card do not legally acquire one because they cannot afford the yearly doctor visit and recurring $150 fee.
Instead, Cronin said, those patients illegally buy and use marijuana to treat their pain.
