Dear Fountain Hills Mayor and Town Council,

With the threat of COVID-19 coming quickly to Arizona and Fountain Hills, I wanted to speak out for some of our citizens that are most vulnerable. Many patients that rely on medical marijuana to get them through cancer treatments, Alzheimer’s, Crohn’s, etc. are at a serious health disadvantage when facing a vicious virus like COVID-19. The virus exploits immune deficiencies and leads to staggering mortality rates as a result.

Sadly, these high risk citizens cannot have their MMJ medications delivered to the safety of their homes like citizens in Scottsdale, Phoenix, Glendale, Tempe, Mesa and many other Arizona cities. Instead, they are forced to go out in public to the dispensary and risk exposure. Dispensaries are doing everything they can to foster a healthy environment, but our residents deserve more. They deserve to have the safest means possible to get their medication delivered – no different than a patient having his heart medicine delivered to his home from the pharmacy. Frankly, the more people we have staying home during this time, it benefits all of our town residents.

These times call for extraordinary leadership by our elected officials. You are, in many ways, the caretakers of the most susceptible neighbors in our town. Please work with local dispensaries to find a short-term solution that allows for safe delivery to the patients in need, without them having to risk their lives to get their medications.

Thank you for your time. Be safe out there.