General

/General

Here you will find topics ranging from current events that affect public health in Arizona to overall information about the Arizona Department of Health Services

Cholera in Haiti

By | December 4th, 2010|General|

There’s a big outbreak of cholera in Haiti, and health officials are working with international agencies to control the outbreak.  Cholera causes severe watery diarrhea and can spread easily from person to person through contaminated food and water.  The diarrhea caused by cholera results in loss of body fluids, which can cause severe dehydration and, [...]

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Fairness and Transparency are the Keys to Effectively Implementing the AZ Medical Marijuana Act

By | December 3rd, 2010|General|

Throughout my career I’ve learned that a cornerstone of working with the community is to make sure you have a true partnership.  Every partnership starts with trust.  In order to establish and maintain trust throughout our implementation period, the ADHS needs to ensure that our process is completely fair, open, honest and transparent. Part of [...]

Medical Marijuana (Cannabis) Dispensary Zoning

By | December 3rd, 2010|General|

The AZ Medical Marijuana Act states that cities and towns may adopt "reasonable regulations" regarding the location and operations of medical marijuana dispensaries and growing operations in their jurisdictions.  The ADHS still has the responsibility to issue the dispensary license- but any license that we ultimately issue would be contingent on the prospective facility being [...]

Thanks for Giving (note to staff before Thanksgiving)

By | December 2nd, 2010|General|

Thanks for giving your all over the last year. I know it hasn’t been easy.  We’ve been though a lot over the last year with budget reductions, furloughs, short staffing and other uncertainty- yet you’ve remained committed to our mission, stayed at your post and  helped move our mission ahead for the people of Arizona.  [...]

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Wait a Minute, Isn’t Marijuana Illegal?

By | November 29th, 2010|General|

I get this question a lot from folks.  While Congress has determined that it’s illegal to distribute and sell marijuana, several states have passed laws authorizing the distribution and use of marijuana for medical purposes.  Arizona will likely be the 15th state to do so if the election is certified today (November 29).  So, in [...]

Qualified Patient Applicants

By | November 23rd, 2010|General|

One thing that folks have mentioned on my blog over and over is concern about who will need to submit fingerprints as part of their application under the AZ Medical Marijuana Act.  Here’s the short answer:  All applicants except a qualifying patient will need to submit a full set of fingerprints before getting a card [...]

Medical Marijuana (Cannabis) Implementation Schedule & Info

By | November 19th, 2010|General|

By now you probably know that Proposition 203, the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act, appears to have passed after all (although the final determination will actually be made when the election is certified on November 29).  The Act identifies ADHS as the organization that’s responsible for carrying out the provisions of the law.  There will be several [...]

Medical Marijuana Implementation Plan

By | November 15th, 2010|General|

By now you probably know that Proposition 203, the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act appears to have passed after all (although the final determination will actually be made when the election is certified).  The Act identifies the ADHS as the organization that’s responsible for carrying out the provisions of the law.  There will be several teams of [...]

Post Election 203 Communications

By | November 2nd, 2010|General|

If Prop 203 passes today, we’ll definitely get flooded with phone calls from people that want information on how they can get a license to become a dispensary starting Wednesday.  There’s absolutely no way we could ever try to answer the inevitable questions over the phone.  Number 1, we won’t have full answers until at [...]

Selecting Marijuana Dispensaries

By | October 29th, 2010|General|

If Proposition 203 passes (the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act), one of our key decisions will be how to set up some kind of selection process for approving marijuana dispensary applications.  The Act states that the number of Cannabis dispensaries will be limited to 10% of the number of pharmacies in the state.  As of right [...]