Arizona lawmakers are attempting to force the state’s Department of Health Services (DHS) to put millions of dollars towards medical cannabis research.
Senate Bill 1230, currently making its way through the Senate, is aimed at ensuring funds collected from medical cannabis patients and dispensaries are put towards funding research into the efficacy of medical cannabis treatments.
It comes four years after the Senate told the DHS that it ‘may’ use funds from the medical cannabis industry to provide $5m in grants towards medical cannabis research every year for five years.
However, this ambiguous language has led to inaction, seeing just $5m given out by the DHS since then.
Now, SB 1230 is aiming to change this vague language to ‘shall,’ effectively shifting cannabis research from option to obligation in the eyes of the law.
Despite broad support for cannabis research, concerns remain over whether Arizona can afford the full $25 million commitment. The DHS currently has about $20 million in its cannabis research fund, but agency representatives warn that declining medical cannabis enrolment threatens future revenues.
This decline in medical cannabis patients, as seen in other US states, began when the state legalized adult-use cannabis in 2020.
Under this law, adults can purchase and use cannabis without a medical card, leading to a sharp decline in the number of registered medical cannabis patients—from 173,000 in 2017 to just 63,000 last year.
This drop has had a direct impact on funding: medical marijuana patients pay for state-issued cards, and those fees help sustain the research budget. To date, around $20 million has been raised through taxes on medical cannabis.
Meanwhile, adult-use cannabis sales in the state are also suffering, as the state’s overall cannabis market continues to contract.
November’s adult-use cannabis sales fell to $73.1 million—the lowest monthly total since September—while medical cannabis sales plummeted to a record low of $16.5 million, continuing a years-long downward trend.
The latest figures from the Arizona Department of Revenue show that through November, recreational dispensaries recorded $906 million in sales, while medical dispensaries totalled $224 million. These figures suggest the state’s cannabis industry will finish the year well below the $1.42 billion in total sales from 2023 and the $1.43 billion recorded in 2022.
Medical marijuana sales have been hit hardest, falling 37.3% compared to 2023 levels and a staggering 57% since 2022. Recreational sales, though still dominant, have also cooled, down 14.5% from their peak of $1.06 billion in 2023.