Arizona is fumbling a chance to be a leader in medical marijuana science — for reasons that aren't clear — and should follow through on funding the would-be researchers that the state's elected officials aimed to support.
That's the takeaway from a letter to top Arizona officials signed by a variety of marijuana-related parties who, per their own admission, rarely agree on much of anything.
On medical research funding, however, they're aligned. Leaders of the Arizona Dispensaries Association (ADA), the Hemp Industry Trade Association (HITA) and Arizona's chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) co-signed the letter with Dr. Sue Sisley, the president and principal researcher of the Scottsdale Research Institute. Addressed to Shelia Sjolander, the interim director of the Arizona Department of Health Services, as well as several aides to Gov. Katie Hobbs, the letter asks the state to put $2 million from the Arizona Medical Marijuana Fund toward medical marijuana research in 2026.
That $2 million, the letter signatories say, would help to advance research into possible benefits cannabis may have for the treatment of conditions such as autism, epilepsy and post-traumatic stress disorder. Their request is an effort to dislodge funding they expected would be directed during the 2025 legislative session. But a bill to direct that money failed to pass, a loss that still baffles lawmakers who expected the measure to sail through to the governor's desk for approval.
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