When Arizona voters approved adult-use cannabis initiative Prop 207 in 2020, it created a program called Justice Reinvestment Program, which directs the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) cannabis tax funds to go toward a variety of public services.

The Justice Reinvestment Program includes funding for 1.) public and behavioral health services (such as substance abuse prevention/treatment), 2.) “Restorative justice, jail diversion, workforce development, industry-specific technical assistance or mentoring services” (to benefit those who are in areas that are disproportionately affected by high arrest rates), 3.) “addressing the underlying causes of crime” and targeting reduction in prison population and drug-related arrests, and 4.) funding the creation of tech or programs with a focus on “restoration of civil rights” and expunging records.

On Dec. 21, the ADHS announced that it has finally chosen the recipients of the first round of Justice Reinvestment Grants. This includes 18 nonprofit recipients which …”address all of the key focus areas outlined in the statute and in the community listening sessions and represent communities from across the state of Arizona,” ADHS wrote.

Northland Family Help Center, Hushabye Nursery, Axiom Community of Recovery, Cihuapactli Collective, Stuck Community Acupuncture, Inc, Phoenix Indian Center, Arouet Foundation, Friendly House, Jobs for Arizona’s Graduates (JAG), Persevere, Constructing Circles of Peace, Regional Center for Border Health, Inc. – Yuma, Regional Center for Border Health, Inc. – Parker, Arizona Democracy Resource Center, Southern Arizona Legal Aid, Inc, The Bambi Fund, Just Communities Arizona, and Our Sister Our Brother.

According to a press release, ADHS began working on this initiative by analyzing state data and determining which communities were impacted the most by the War on Drugs, specifically in relation to “drug enforcement, arrest, and incarceration.” During this time, 18 listening sessions were heard, and participants came up with a list of eight points of benefit for their communities: neighborhood safety/community gathering places such as parks or community centers, cultural awareness training, affordable housing, stigma reduction, offering tech classes for people who were once incarcerated, youth development services, and substance abuse education/prevention.

“Moving forward, the Office of Health Equity will develop a robust program evaluation process to ensure that funded projects serve the intended communities and create a positive impact,” ADHS continued. “The program evaluation will assess if awardees meet their determined goals and the data collected will be used in efforts to continuously improve the program. The Office will also facilitate a Community of Practice for all awardees and interested stakeholders to share best practices, lessons learned and build partnerships to support the communities served.”

State law says that the Justice Reinvestment Program will receive 35% from the Justice Reinvestment Fund, which includes 10% of cannabis sales tax revenue. Additionally, one-third of cannabis tax revenue goes to community colleges and districts, 31% to public safety (law enforcement, fire departments, etc.), and 25% for the Arizona Highway Revenue Fund.

When Prop 207 passed in 2020, it was widely celebrated by the cannabis community. NORML Executive Director Erik Altieri shared a statement about how it will benefit people in Arizona. “Until now, Arizona had imposed some of the strictest prohibition laws in the country; in some instances, the possession of even small amounts of marijuana was classified as a felony,” Altieri said. “By rejecting this failed policy, no Arizonan going forward will be saddled with a criminal conviction for engaging in the personal possession or cultivation of cannabis, or face the lifelong stigma that comes with it.”

Recently, Arizona met a milestone sales achievement. As of December 2023, the state has officially collected more than $1 billion in cannabis sales (with data collected between January 2023-September 2023). This includes a split of adult-use cannabis sales ($797 million) and medical cannabis sales ($267 million) for the same nine-month time period. Since January 2021 when sales first began, the state has collected more than $4 billion in combined recreational and medical sales.

Other states have also implemented similar programs to help fund various community services. The California Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) announced in February that it would be granting $20 million to bring cannabis retail stores to underserved areas through a Local Jurisdiction Retail Access Grant.

Later in June, the DCC awarded $4.1 million as part of the first phase of the grant process. “The Local Jurisdictional Retail Access Grant program will help provide access to regulated cannabis retail for over 2 million Californians that currently live in an area where access to licensed cannabis retail businesses is insufficient,” said DCC Acting Director Rasha Salama. “In addition to improving access to existing customers, these grants are another important step towards establishing legal pathways for legacy and social equity operators.”

Applications for Phase II of the Local Jurisdiction Retail Access Grant opened in October 2023, where $15 million is available in total funding. An announcement date has not yet been established.

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While it may sound “old hat” to cannabis industry experts in North America, the government of Argentina has just made a bold move that will allow patients to access medical cannabis in a way not seen in most reforming jurisdictions elsewhere. Namely, the Argentine Ministry of Health has authorized specially licensed and permitted nonprofits to grow cannabis for medical patients.

Each NGO will be allowed to provide cannabis to up to 150 people, cultivate both in and outdoors and register multiple properties for the purpose of the same. Patients will also have to participate in a special registry called the Registry of the Cannabis Program (REPROCANN). Nonprofits who register more than 150 patients will also be allowed to request authorization for the extension of these patient counts to the National Program for the study and research of medicinal cannabis.

Resolution 673 modifies an Argentinian resolution passed in March of last year which established and regulated the operation of the REPROCANN program and created the basic parameters of controlled cultivation for medical users. 

The Details

Each nonprofit may cultivate up to nine plants per patient and will be allowed up to 6m² for indoor cultivation and up to 15m² for outdoor cultivation for this purpose. When transported by vehicle, up to six bottles of 30ml of cannabis extract or up to 40 grams of dried flowers will be allowed by authorized persons.

The program has been set up to simplify the guaranteed access to treatments for medical cannabis users and allow third parties to provide the same for registered patients.

Cannabis Reform in Argentina

Cannabis has been decriminalized in Argentina for personal use since the Supreme Court ruled on the same in 2009 and further decided that personal use was a constitutional right. Public consumption is generally tolerated. Consumption for medical purposes had not been regulated until now. Cultivation, selling and transporting cannabis however, remained illegal.

In March 2017, the Argentine Senate approved the medical use of CBD oil. In late November 2020, President Alberto Fernandez signed a decree allowing the self-cultivation of cannabis and subsidized medical access.

What Argentina is Getting Right

While hardly the most prominent cannabis reform program globally, it appears that the Argentine government is taking a page out of other reform programs that have been implemented elsewhere—as well as what has not worked.

For example, in both the US and Canada, patient collectives similar to those in Argentina became the basis of the legalizing commercial industry. However, in places like Holland, certainly until the formal national cultivation trial kicks in next year, and currently in Spain, the growth and cultivation of crops for coffeeshops and clubs remains largely unregulated. Transport between the cultivation site and the consumption and sales location remains a hazardous affair as the entire process is still in a gray area.

Beyond this, the idea of formalizing patient collectives has not caught on in places like Europe. At present, only Switzerland has plans to implement cannabis clubs that are federally regulated—although the first dispensation of the same will still occur in pharmacies.

The entire discussion of patient collectives and nonprofits is completely off the table in Germany, now in the process of establishing guidelines for recreational use (and unbelievably delaying the decriminalization process). Patients are still largely left to fend for themselves in a maze of bureaucratic red tape that starts with the reluctance of doctors to prescribe cannabis extracts and medicines (and even more so cannabis flower) and the repeated stymieing of these requests by insurance companies and the state-run regulator which makes the final approvals. 

When they do not get this, many patients (who do not suddenly stop being sick) turn to the black market, which is dangerous for patients on both the quality side and of course, facing criminal sanctions if they are caught with more than about five to 15 grams of weed (depending on where they are caught).

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