Yes.
Arizona law requires that medical marijuana cardholders be identified in the state’s Controlled Substances Prescription Monitoring Program, a central database for tracking prescriptions. Lawmakers established the requirement after voters approved a 2010 ballot proposition legalizing medical marijuana.
The Arizona Department of Health Services regulates both medical and recreational marijuana, securely transferring cardholder information to the prescription monitoring program and matching it with existing patient information. The Arizona Board of Pharmacy oversees the monitoring program but has no access to confidential medical cardholder information. Only registered users, like prescribers, can access a patient’s prescription report.
As of January 2025, about 87,000 Arizonans held medical marijuana cards.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs, or quick-response fact checks, about trending claims relating to Arizona.
Sources
- Prescription Monitoring Program, Medical Marijuana Indicator used in the Arizona CSPMP
- Arizona Department of Health Services, Arizona Marijuana Program January 2025 Monthly Report
- LegiScan, Arizona State Legislature House Bill 2585
- Arizona State Legislature, Arizona Revised Statutes 36-2801
- Arizona State Legislature, Arizona Revised Statutes 36-2602
- Arizona Department of Health Services, AZ Bills Related to Marijuana
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The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting is partnering with Gigafact to produce timely fact briefs, or quick-response fact checks, about trending claims relating to Arizona.
