The voters' decision makes Arizona the 15th state to have approved a law allowing marijuana usage for medical purposes.
The ballot measure in November's recent election, Proposition 203, ended up winning by just 4,341 votes out of the more than 1.67 million ballots counted, according to the final tally announced yesterday.
The final outcome of the proposition was a bit of a surprise given the various accounts of the vote tally which at times showed the Proposition being approved, while other tallies had shown it to be losing. In fact, it was trailing by over 7000 votes on Election Day.
The Arizona Proposition will allow patients with "chronic or debilitating" diseases such as Cancer, Hepatitis C and AIDS - who meet the legal guidelines - to grow marijuana plants or to buy 2.5 ounces of marijuana every two weeks.
Patients must first obtain a "recommendation" from their Doctor and also register with Arizona's Department of Health Services. Unlike other medical marijuana laws, the Arizona law restricts the number of medical marijuana dispensaries to 124 for the entire state.
Despite being opposed by all of Arizona's sheriffs, county prosecutors, the governor, state attorney general, and most politicians, the measure is now law.
