Short answer: Use our service and schedule an online conference with the doctor. Once you’ve received the doctor’s approval to renew your MMJ card, register your renewal on the AZDHS website.
On August 27, 2019, the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) amended the rules regarding all medical cannabis cards issued in the state as of that date. Among these changes, MMJ card renewals became valid for two years instead of just one. As of this December 2022, this rule is en effect. The only important thing is to apply for renewal of the medical marijuana card 90 days before it expires.
Why Renew a Medical Cannabis Card
Now that recreational cannabis is legalized in Arizona, you may wonder if it’s even worth renewing your MMJ card. There are several benefits, however, of having a medical marijuana card in Arizona that simply having access to recreational marijuana does not provide.
Qualifying Age
For medical cannabis, there is no age minimum.
For recreational cannabis, like for alcohol, you must be at least 21 years old.
Lines
Arizona dispensaries have separate entrances at separate doors with separate lines: one for medical cannabis cardholders and one for recreational cannabis customers.
For medical cannabis, lines are typically short, which means short wait times and speedy purchases.
For recreational cannabis, lines are typically much longer, which means longer wait times, both to get in the door and to complete a purchase.
Quantity Limits – Purchase and Possession
Medical cannabis cardholders can purchase up to 2.5 ounces of medical marijuana in any form every two weeks and possess up to 2.5 ounces of medical marijuana in any form at any given time.
Recreational cannabis users can buy up to one ounce of recreational marijuana, with no greater than five grams being in the form of cannabis extracts or concentrations, in a single transactions. They also can’t possess any more than that amount at any one time.
The Arizona Department of Health Services considers possession of any more than 2.5 ounces of marijuana, medical or recreational, of which 12.5 grams or less is in concentrate or extract form a petty offense.
Read also: What Allotment Medical Marijuana Patients Have in Arizona.
Potency
Medical cannabis cardholders can buy cannabis and all cannabis products with any degree of potency.
Recreational cannabis users can buy cannabis with any degree of potency, but can only buy edibles containing up to 10 mg of THC per serving and 100 mg per package.
Cost – Prices and Taxes
AZDHS expects medical cannabis prices to remain the same after recreational dispensaries open for business. As for taxes, medical marijuana purchases are only subject to state and local taxes.
Prices for recreational cannabis are, as of yet, unknown, though they are likely to be significantly higher than those for medical cannabis. Taxes on recreational marijuana include state and local taxes as well as a 16% excise tax.
Read also: What Is the Tax Rate on Recreational Marijuana in Arizona.
Cultivation
Medical cannabis patients can only cultivate their own cannabis if they live too far away from the nearest dispensary to reasonably make the trip for purchases. If a medical cannabis patient cultivates his or her own medical cannabis, however, he or she is restricted to a certain number of plants and harvested cannabis in possession. Additionally, patients cultivating their own medical cannabis cannot also purchase medical cannabis from a dispensary. It’s one or the other.
Recreational cannabis users can cultivate up to six plants at an individual’s primary residence and up to 12 plants where at least two people 21 years of age or older reside.
Employment
Medical cannabis cardholders have some employment protections under Arizona’s medical marijuana laws, specifically against employer discrimination. This means an employer cannot choose to drug test known medical cannabis cardholders but not other employees.
An employer is permitted to operate a drug-free workplace in Arizona, but the employer must treat all employees equally under that policy. Furthermore, a medical marijuana patient cannot be reprimanded or terminated for failing a drug test for marijuana. Recreational cannabis users don’t even have those levels of employment protections.
Read also: What Legal Marijuana Under Proposition 207 Means to Arizona Employees and Employers.
No worker, however, can be impaired on the job from performing his or her duties as expected, nor can he or she be in possession of cannabis, even medical cannabis, on-the-job, whether inside the workplace or working off-site. If a worker violates these rules, an employer does have the right to issue and take appropriate action, even if that worker is a legal medical marijuana patient.
Public Use
Using cannabis in public is illegal for recreational users and medical marijuana cardholders alike. Arizona law now treats the violation, however, as a petty offense rather than a felony, as it used to.
Read also: The Most Recent Arizona Medical Laws and Rules.
How to Renew Your Medical Marijuana Card in 2022-2023
All holders of medical marijuana cards in Arizona have to be recertified every 2 years by a licensed doctor. Renewal of a medical marijuana card is much the same as applying for it for the first time. However, the procedure isn’t fully automatic. To apply for a medical card renewal, one is required to provide a valid state ID card and, in some cases, up-to-date medical documents.
To get a weed card with the help of Affordable Certification, you need to do 3 simple steps:
- Schedule an Appointment. You can do this via our website whenever it’s convenient for you. If you have medical records proving your condition, please have them with you at the online meeting. You will also need to provide us with a valid Arizona driver’s license or ID card. Register on our website (if you haven’t already) and we will arrange an appointment for you with our licensed medical marijuana doctor.
- Video Chat With the Doctor. After signing up, you will proceed to the virtual waiting room immediately or get a time for a future meeting. In most cases, the doctor is available within 15-20 minutes.
- Get Your Physician Certification and Renew Your Card. Usually, a certification is ready the next business day. Then, go on the state’s website medicalmarijuana.azdhs.gov and complete the “New Patient Application” or “Renewal Application.” The application will request the physician’s information, which may be found on the Physician Certification. The Arizona Department of Health Services portal will process your card when you complete the ADHS application and pay the state fee. You will be able to access your renewed card on the same ADHS portal.
How Long Does it Take to Renew My Medical Marijuana Card in Arizona?
Patients in Arizona can seek to renew their Medical Marijuana Card 90 days before it expires. Arizona’s new online application procedure allows you to complete your application in a few hours. By law, they are allowed up to 5 business days, but sometimes the renewed card can be issued in as little as 30 minutes. When you renew your medical marijuana card in Arizona, the card will not be updated on the Arizona Department portal until the previous one expires. And you can use your card the day it expires, but not the day afterward.
Note: If you want to renew your card, you must use the renewal form on the ADHS website (not the new form). Thus you are maximizing the time left on the card’s yearly life.
What Are the Renewal Fees for Medical Cards in Arizona 2022-2023?
The information about fees has been taken from the official ADHS website and is up-to-date as of December 2022.
- For a qualifying patient application you will have to pay $150.
- A qualifying patient application that is eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will cost you $75.
- If we are talking about a minor patient application (includes caregiver), the fee is $350 or $275 if SNAP is eligible. Designated caregiver application, $200 (for each application). There can be up to three caregivers chosen for one minor person.
Renew Your Arizona MMJ Card Online
For as long as the COVID-19 pandemic is around, Arizona has suspended its requirement for initial required visits with MMJ doctors to get your first medical marijuana card in the state to be conducted in person at the doctor’s office. Now, you can meet with a doctor, get the authorization you need for a new or renewal medical marijuana card in Arizona and even sign up for your new or updated card all online via telemedicine.
When you do decide renew your AZ medical cannabis card online, do it with affordablecertification.com a new startup that allows you to get your initial Arizona medical marijuana card and subsequently renew medical marijuana card completely online.
At Affordable Certification, all you need to do to renew your Arizona medical marijuana card is sign up and schedule an appointment with one of Affordable Certification’s licensed MMJ doctors. There’s no risk in using the service either, since, if you don’t qualify for a new or renewal MMJ card in Arizona, your doctor’s visit is free.
Once you’ve received the doctor’s approval to renew medical marijuana card, all you need to do to complete the process is register your renewal on the AZDHS website.
If you apply for a medical marijuanas card in Arizona for the first time, sign up to contact a professional doctor certified to prescribe medical cannabis in Arizona. You will get answers to all of your questions related to marijuana, its use, dosage, and strains. Moreover, you will find out if you can qualify for a card and how to apply for it. Don’t hesitate to schedule your telemedicine appointment!