Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Website Connects QPs and DCs

I can imagine employers who want to take an ostrich approach to the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act (AMMA) dismissing yesterday’s post as alarmist fantasy.  “None of my employees is going to become a pot grower,” they assure themselves.

Already up and running, however, is a website matching Qualified Patients (QP) with people who will cultivate their private stock of marijuana.  
When the Arizona Republic reported on Scottsdale philanthropist Gerald Gaines’ efforts to connect QPs with Designated Caregivers (DCs) through his website, CompassionFirstAZ, back in May, it was before the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) decided not to start taking dispensary applications as scheduled on June 1, 2011.

Even then, the reality was that it was going to take approximately a year for dispensaries to be selected and licensed to operate.  Gaines, a founding director of Sprint PCS, was offering free growing lessons to anyone interested in becoming a temporary caregiver until dispensaries open.  He told the Republic then that he was hoping to find 150 people willing to become marijuana-growing DCs.

I’m guessing Gaines is looking for more than 150 now.   It is simply not realistic for Arizona employers to assume that there won’t be green-thumbed do-gooders among their employees.

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