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Tell Medical Marijuana States Not to Block Access for the Poor
PETITION CLOSED
- The time period for signing this petition has ended.
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Signatures
963 out of 1,000Petitioning
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Massachusetts Commissioner of Health
(+ 3 others)
Petitioning
close- Massachusetts Commissioner of Health (John Auerbach)
- Michigan Director of Community Health (Janet Olszewski)
- California Director of Public Health (Mark Horton)
- Colorado Director of Public Health and Environment (Martha Rudolph)
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Massachusetts Commissioner of Health
(+ 3 others)
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The legalization law in Washington D.C., which passed last year, is different from those in the 14 states that have legalized medical marijuana in that it includes a provision that requires marijuana to be offered to patients on a sliding scale if they meet income requirements.
The provision may encourage poorer residents to buy from state-authorized marijuana dispensaries, which sell pot at sometimes more than twice the price of street dealers - $150 for an ounce on the street, opposed to an estimated $350 in an authorized D.C. dispensary.
Other states that offer or are considering offering medical marijuana through state-authorized dispensaries should also consider adding programs like D.C.'s, to help make sure that medical marijuana gets to those residents that need it most and that poor people don't have to rely on the illegal market to get the help they need. California, Colorado, Michigan and Massachusetts could create policies that help low-income people have legal access to the medical care that they need.
State commissioners of Public Health, will you do what you can to encourage fair pricing of medical marijuana in your state so that low-income residents can have access to it?
We call on you to create sliding-scale policies, like the one being implemented in Washington D.C., to ensure that all your citizens, not just the rich, have access to the health care they need.
Photo credit: Dominic Simpson
Why People Are Signing
Recent Signatures
Give Low-Income Residents Access to Medical Marijuana
Dear State Public Health Official,
I'm writing to ask you to help low-income residents in your state get access to Medical Marijuana by amending provisions in your current or future laws to create a sliding scale for marijuana pricing in state-authorized dispensaries.
The legalization law in Washington D.C., which passed last year, is different from those in the 14 states that have legalized medical marijuana in that it includes a provision that requires marijuana to be offered to patients on a sliding scale if they meet income requirements.
The provision may encourage poorer residents to buy from state-authorized marijuana dispensaries, which sell pot at sometimes more than twice the price of street dealers - $150 for an ounce on the street, opposed to an estimated $350 in an authorized D.C. dispensary.
Your state should should also consider adding programs like D.C.'s, to help make sure that medical marijuana gets to those residents that need it most and that poor people don't have to rely on the illegal market to get the help they need.
State commissioners of Public Health, will you do what you can to encourage fair pricing of medical marijuana in your state so that low-income residents can have access to it?
We call on you to create sliding-scale policies, like the one being implemented in Washington D.C., to ensure that all your citizens, not just the rich, have access to the health care they need.
[Your name]