Arizona NORML is calling on all activists to take action to stop HB2061, the controversial new bill from Rep.Kelly Townsend, (R-LD16) that would add pregnancy as a disqualifying condition for women seeking medical cards. Outrage has been immediate since Day 1 of the state legislature.
“It is a horrific medical decision and terrible public health policy to insert a politician between a woman and her doctor,” notes Heather Manus of the Arizona Cannabis Nurses Association. Statistics from the 2014 AZDHS Medical Marijuana report show that over ten thousand Arizona women of childbearing age have medical cards and could have their cards revoked if they should become pregnant. The potential number of Arizona the women who could be blocked from applying for medical cards could number in the hundreds of thousands.
Kathy Inman of Momforce further explains: “Doctors recommend their patients continue taking most prescribed pharmaceuticals while pregnant, especially those for epilepsy. They also recommend continuing antidepressants like Paxil, one with proven debilitative and detrimental side effects. Cannabis has been found to be one of the safest and least addictive drugs available by the National Institutes of Health, and it is currently being used to replace harmful drugs prescribed for the above conditions. It is my opinion that pregnant women should not take any prescriptions that are not absolutely necessary. However, no woman should be considered a criminal for using a legal substance that is comparatively better for her health. ”
All this potential devastation despite the fact that preventing prenatal access to cannabis flies in the face of mileania of medical practice of mid-wives and internet-age coffee table confessions. Among the modern medical studies, many experts point to Dr. Melanie Dreher’s study from Jamaica which showed babies expose to cannabis prenatally had better health outcomes than those who had not had cannabis consuming mothers.
More here: http://www.druglibrary.org/SCHAFFER/hemp/medical/can-babies.htm
This bill can be stopped with sufficient public outcry. It will require a change to the Prop 203 Medical Marijuna Act and that will require 3/4s vote from both houses of the state legislature. Citizen pushback can stop this thing in its tracks.
Contact your legislator today: call, email, Facebook, Twitter. Visit the state website to learn more about the process.
Here is a sample message.
Hey, my name is ________ and I live in LD ___ [Don’t know what legislature district you live in? Check here] I am calling to speak with my representative/senator about HB2061, The Medical Marijuan Pregnancy Exclusion bill. I would like to register my complaints with this bill. It goes counter to good public health policy and I encourage Rep. _________________________/Sen. _____________________________ to vote against it. I also request to be scheduled for a meeting with the Sen/Rep to discuss my position on cannabis with him/her.
Sincerely,
Your Name
If you should decide to schedule a meeting Arizona NORML would be happy to assit you in preparing for and attending the meeting. Contact 928-234-5633 for further details.
House Roster
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Senate Roster
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Name
 |
District
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Party
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Email
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Room
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Phone (602)
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Fax (602)
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| Steve Pierce | 1 | R | Send Email | 301 | 926-5584 | 417-3101 |
| Andrea Dalessandro | 2 | D | Send Email | 312 | 926-5342 | 417-3169 |
| Olivia Cajero Bedford | 3 | D | Send Email | 314 | 926-5835 | 417-3262 |
| Lynne Pancrazi | 4 | D | Send Email | 308 | 926-3004 | 417-3179 |
| Kelli Ward | 5 | R | Resigned on 12/15/2015 | |||
| Susan Donahue | 5 | R | Send Email | 304 | 926-4138 | 417-3067 |
| Sylvia Allen President Pro Tempore |
6 | R | Send Email | 303 | 926-5409 | 417-3105 |
| Carlyle Begay | 7 | R | Send Email | 315 | 926-5862 | 417-3099 |
| Barbara McGuire | 8 | D | Send Email | 314 | 926-5836 | 417-3131 |
| Steve Farley Assistant Minority Leader |
9 | D | Send Email | 213 | 926-3022 | 417-3128 |
| David Bradley | 10 | D | Send Email | 315 | 926-5262 | 926-3429 |
| Steve Smith | 11 | R | Send Email | 303 | 926-5685 | 417-3167 |
| Andy Biggs President |
12 | R | Send Email | 205 | 926-4371 | 417-3248 |
| Don Shooter | 13 | R | Send Email | 200 | 926-4139 | 417-3024 |
| Gail Griffin Majority Whip |
14 | R | Send Email | 212 | 926-5895 | 417-3025 |
| Nancy Barto | 15 | R | Send Email | 307 | 926-5766 | 417-3261 |
| David C. Farnsworth | 16 | R | Send Email | 304 | 926-3020 | 417-3119 |
| Steve Yarbrough Majority Leader |
17 | R | Send Email | 212 | 926-5863 | 417-3121 |
| Jeff Dial | 18 | R | Send Email | 304 | 926-5550 | 417-3120 |
| Lupe Contreras Minority Whip |
19 | D | Send Email | 313 | 926-5284 | 417-3106 |
| Kimberly Yee | 20 | R | Send Email | 300 | 926-3024 | 417-3110 |
| Debbie Lesko | 21 | R | Send Email | 302 | 926-5413 | 417-3109 |
| Judy Burges | 22 | R | Send Email | 302 | 926-5861 | 417-3104 |
| John Kavanagh | 23 | R | Send Email | 303A | 926-5170 | 417-3108 |
| Katie Hobbs Minority Leader |
24 | D | Send Email | 213 | 926-5325 | 417-3149 |
| Bob Worsley | 25 | R | Send Email | 310 | 926-5760 | 417-3091 |
| Ed Ableser | 26 | D | Resigned on 9/30/2015 | |||
| Andrew C. Sherwood | 26 | D | Send Email | 305 | 926-3028 | 417-3038 |
| Catherine Miranda | 27 | D | Send Email | 311 | 926-4893 | 417-3116 |
| Adam Driggs | 28 | R | Send Email | 309 | 926-3016 | 417-3007 |
| Martin Quezada Minority Whip |
29 | D | Send Email | 313 | 926-5911 | 417-3113 |
| Robert Meza | 30 | D | Send Email | 311 | 926-3425 | 417-3114 |
Rep Townsend is from LD16, not LD15.
[…] committee gone through 1st and 2nd reading and is scheduled for a hearing this Tuesday, January 19th(NORML will be there learn more) The Right believe it has tremendous optics and appears to play right into prevailing reefer madness […]
[…] before your efforts and dozens of others around the state stopped another bill dead in its tracks, LD16 Kelly Townsend’s Pregnancy Exclusion Bill, HB2061. Our response to the bill was Arizona NORML’s most viewed post ever and led to dozens of activists stepping up […]
[…] in part to your efforts to fight back much of the original language of HB2061 was struck before this compromise version was passed. The original bill called for making pregnancy […]