Fact Check: Brnovich on medical-marijuana cardholders

• Men between 18 and 30 receive nearly a fifth of medical-marijuana cards
• The next largest group is men between 31 and 40%2C who received 14 percent of the state%27s cards
• Younger people are more likely to list %22severe and chronic pain%22 as why they need medical marijuana

WHO SAID IT: Mark Brnovich.

TITLE: Arizona attorney general-elect.

PARTY: Republican.

THE COMMENT: "In Arizona, we legalized marijuana for medical purposes and the results of that apparently are that there are a bunch of 18- to 25-year-old males with back problems and migraine headaches because that's who's getting the cards, most of them."

THE FORUM: Nov. 22 interview on AZTV's (Channel 13) "The 48th."

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT: Whether Brnovich correctly characterizes the demographic makeup of Arizona medical-marijuana cardholders.

ANALYSIS: Marijuana advocates have begun preparing for a 2016 ballot initiative that would legalize recreational marijuana in Arizona. The initiative would ask voters to approve a law similar to Colorado's, which allows those 21 years old and older to purchase and use up to 1 ounce of the drug at a time.

As the state's newly elected top law-enforcement official, Brnovich would be responsible to enforce the law.

During his campaign for office, he told azcentral that he had "serious concerns" about the effort to legalize recreational marijuana and that the state should focus instead on clearing neighborhoods of illegal drugs.

In 2010, Arizona became the 15th state to legalize the possession and use of marijuana for medical purposes. More than 50,000 patients have received medical-marijuana cards under the state program. Brnovich said as attorney general he would defend the voter-approved medical-marijuana program, even though he said he has seen the damage the drug has caused to communities and users.

Critics of medical marijuana in Arizona and the 22 other states that have now legalized it contend the programs are targets of widespread abuse by healthy pot enthusiasts who obtain cards under false pretenses. Brnovich's assessment of cardholders as "18- to 25-year-old males with back problems and migraine headaches" reflects this mind-set.

The Arizona Department of Health Services issues quarterly reports that detail cardholders' age, gender, medical condition and general location. And recent reports show that 18- to 30-year-old men are indeed the largest demographic participating in the program.

The latest report, released Nov. 13, notes that Arizona had 51,783 qualifying patients with medical-marijuana cards. Of these, 9,561 — 18 percent — were men between 18 and 30. Men 31 to 40 were the next-largest group, comprising 14 percent of participants.

Severe and chronic pain, which includes migraine headaches and back pain, was by far the most-cited debilitating condition. It affected 70.6 percent of cardholders, and an additional 19.2 percent of card recipients listed it in combination with one or more other conditions. After that, the most common condition was cancer, at 2.6 percent of card holders.

The report also notes younger people were more likely to list severe and chronic pain as a reason for medical-marijuana usage. Of all medical-marijuana cardholders in the state, 22.7 percent are people between 18 and 30 who say they suffer from severe and chronic pain. People that age without severe and chronic pain make up just 1.4 percent of all cardholders.

For all age groups, severe and chronic pain was cited more than any other debilitating condition as the reason for holding a medical-marijuana card, but this tapers off among cardholders older than 30. Cardholders between 18 and 30 are 16 times more likely to list severe and chronic pain than other reasons. The oldest group, cardholders older than 81, are only 5 times more likely to cite suffering from severe and chronic pain than other reasons.

BOTTOM LINE: Brnovich's characterization of medical-marijuana card holders is largely accurate. ADHS reports indicate that 18- to 30-year-old men are the largest demographic of medical-marijuana cardholders. Similarly, 18- to 30-year-olds with severe and chronic pain make up more than a fifth of the state's cardholders. However, given that at least 80 percent of cardholders are not 18- to 30-year-old men with chronic pain, it's not fair to say they're getting "most" of the cards.

THE FINDING: Three stars: mostly true.

SOURCES:Mark Brnovich interview on "The 48th"; Arizona Department of Health Services "Third Annual Medical Marijuana Report"; Arizona Medical Marijuana Program; Marijuana Policy Project website;"Marijuana advocates kick off 2016 initiative," The Arizona Republic, Sept. 22; Azcentral Politics 2014 Voters Guide.