Yvonne Wingett Sanchez

The Republic | azcentral.com

An Arizona lawmaker is seeking to restrict access to medical marijuana with a bill that would ban naturopaths and homeopaths from writing prescriptions for the drug, require patients to renew cards every six months and punish those cardholders who sell or give the drug to kids.

The bill, House Concurrent Resolution 2019, if approved, would go to a public vote in November.

Another bill would forbid pregnant women from the state's medical marijuana program.

Nearly every year, Republican lawmakers have sought to limit access to the state's medical marijuana program, which voters approved in 2010. It's unclear how the new attempts will play with the Republican-controlled Legislature and Gov. Doug Ducey, who opposes legalizing the drug. Changes to the law would require approval by three-fourths of the Legislature and must further the intent of the law.

HCR 2019 is notable because naturopaths and homeopaths account for an overwhelming majority of the authorized use of medical marijuana, according to state data.

Nearly 88,000 Arizonans held medical marijuana cards in December, and the number has been steadily rising since Arizonans approved the program in 2010. The law allows people with certain debilitating medical conditions — such as severe nausea, chronic pain and cancer — to use cannabis. Patients must obtain recommendations from a physician and register with the state, which issues identification cards to qualified patients and caregivers.

Program rules require physicians to perform a physical exam, a review of a year's worth of medical records and a review of a state database that tracks certain prescription-drug use. Physicians are not required to ask patients if they are pregnant.

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But Jay Lawrence, R-Scottsdale, said his legislation is aimed at protecting youth while cracking down on physicians who may be improperly recommending cannabis. He is confident his colleagues "see the same threat to society that I see" and will support the legislation.

Lawrence, who supported medical marijuana years ago, said he now sees it as a detriment to public safety.

"I find marijuana is a threat and its use by young people is a threat — they are threats because they are stoned," Lawrence said. "They are threats because they are driving, they are threats because at their business ... they might handle machinery and be stoned.

"I didn't know what medical marijuana would do to society."

A recent U.S. Department of Health and Human Services survey shows Colorado leads the nation in past-month marijuana use following its legalization of the drug in 2012.

Lawrence also questions whether physicians are recommending marijuana for truly medicinal purposes and points to state data that shows naturopaths write the majority of recommendations.

The state Department of Health Services, which oversees the program, said physicians gave 77,639 certifications for medical marijuana in 2015. All but 10,031 were written by naturopaths, according to preliminary data.

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In the past, the state's former health director, Will Humble, said the large number of recommendations by naturopaths raises concerns that patients are seeking recommendations from “certification mills” instead of primary-care doctors, who may be more well-versed in patients’ medical histories.

He said the program was billed as a way to help veterans and the elderly but has been exploited. He wants to go after those who abuse it — namely those who give or sell their medical marijuana to kids.

But Ryan Hurley, an attorney who specializes in marijuana law, said Lawrence's bill does not "further the purpose" of the marijuana law, and, therefore, is fatally flawed.

"Hopefully it should be dead on arrival, but we'll see," Hurley said, adding that lawmakers should not try to limit the types of physicians who can prescribe marijuana.

“There are a great number of MDs that are afraid to prescribe medical marijuana — even if they’re OK with the actual use of it,” he said. “They refer people to naturopaths to get their cards. It’s a natural approach — it’s not outside the realm of reason that a naturopath would be more inclined to recognize the natural benefits” of marijuana, he said.

Hurley said allowing naturopaths to recommend cannabis “was specifically the intent" of the drafters of the medical-marijuana law, and the voters.

Under the other bill, introduced by Rep. Kelly Townsend, R-Mesa, pregnant women would be excluded from the medical marijuana program "regardless of her diagnosis as having a debilitating medical condition."

In an emailed statement, Townsend wrote, "(T)he harmful effects of this drug on the fetus is undeniable and empirically substantiated and therefore does not find a place in the effective medical management of a pregnancy." She said exposing a fetus to drugs could be concluded as neglect, "and therefore a woman risks losing her child to DCS should she or the child test positive at birth."

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She cited research on the health effects of marijuana, and an Arizona Republic story that detailed the concerns of Arizona pediatricians who fear the medical-marijuana law is being used to treat the ailments of pregnant women, potentially harming fetuses.

In 2012, members of the Arizona chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics said they wanted to stop pregnant women from using marijuana obtained through the program and pointed to one incident in which a mother in labor told hospital officials she had received a medical-marijuana card during pregnancy and had been using the drug. The pediatricians believe marijuana is harmful to the fetus.

Townsend wrote lawmakers have the ability to "regulate dangerous behavior when it comes to the protection of the unborn and minors, such as car seats or other general child-endangerment."

Hurley, the attorney, speculated there may be a greater push by Republican lawmakers to support the latest legislation, but questioned the extent of use of the drug by pregnant women. He added if pregnant women are intent on using marijuana for non-medicinal purposes, "it's not like they have a hard time finding it."

He cautioned lawmakers against interfering with the relationship between patients and doctors.

Follow the reporter on Twitter @yvonnewingett and reach her at yvonne.wingett@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4712.