Arizona
General
Jun 2022
3 min

Is Cannabis Legal in Arizona?

Adult use

Answer

Arizona has legalized the use and licensed sale of medicinal marijuana. Recreational (adult use) marijuana is prohibited in Arizona.  

Qualifying Conditions for Medical Marijuana use in Arizona

  • Alzheimer’s disease
  • Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
  • Cancer
  • Crohn’s Disease
  • Glaucoma
  • Hepatitis C
  • HIV/AIDS
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder
  • Chronic medical conditions or disabilities, with treatable symptoms including but not limited to:

               o   Cachexia, or wasting syndrome

               o   Seizures

               o   Severe and chronic pain

               o   Severe nausea

               o   Severe or persistent muscle spasms​

Why this is important

Whether a state has medical or recreational cannabis use and sale allowed is important to any current or prospective cannabis business owner because the status of the cannabis regulations largely impacts the business's consumer base.  In medical only states such as AZ, the consumer pool is limited to medical marijuana registration card holders.  Once a state allows recreational (adult use) cannabis, the potential consumer base sky rockets to include any adult over 21+.  The businesses which have been operating in the medical marijuana market in AZ have done very well and anticipate doing exceedingly better once recreational cannabis is allowed.

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Regulatory Citations for This Article

A highly-supported ballot initiative to legalize adult-use (recreational) marijuana in Arizona has obtained enough signatures to get listed on voter ballots this year. The initiative is known as the Smart and Safe Arizona Act.  

In November, Arizona voters will be able to vote on the initiative. If the initiative passes, Arizona lawmakers would have to establish regulations for the recreational marijuana industry by or before June 1, 2021. View the Smart and Safe Arizona Act.