I think we can all agree that patients shouldn’t face prosecution or jail time for following their doctor’s advice. Oftentimes, however, opponents dismiss the need for medical marijuana laws because, as they say, “Very few people, especially patients, are arrested for simple marijuana possession.”

Not true.

According to national crime statistics, there were nearly 850,000 marijuana arrests in the United States last year, almost 90% of which were for simple possession, not distribution or sale. That’s more arrests than for all violent crimes combined in the same period.

Added to the fact that Arizona is one of the only places in the country where possession of any amount of marijuana can be prosecuted as a felony, these statistics clearly make the case that an effective medical marijuana law is not just convenient for seriously and terminally ill patients, it is essential. We must assure that no patient is ever again prosecuted for following his or her doctor’s advice.