The Arizona caregiver card: who needs one, what it costs.

A designated caregiver is someone registered with AZDHS to obtain and handle medical marijuana on a patient’s behalf. Most adult patients never need one. Two groups do, and for one of them it is not a choice.

When a caregiver is mandatory

Patients under 18. A minor cannot hold a card alone. A custodial parent or legal guardian must be registered as the designated caregiver, must consent to the use, and controls the dosage and acquisition. Arizona also requires the minor’s certification to come with a second physician’s written confirmation — two doctors, not one.

When it is simply useful

Adult patients who cannot get to a dispensary themselves: people in treatment, people without transport, people whose condition makes the trip impractical. The caregiver shops; the patient does not have to.

What it costs

Item	Fee	Covers
Patient evaluation	$149	Two years
AZDHS patient card	$150 ($75 on SNAP)	Two years
AZDHS caregiver card	$200	Two years
Total, minor patient	$499	Two years

The caregiver fee is per caregiver, not per patient — one registration covers all the patients that caregiver serves.

Who can be one

• At least 21 years old.
• Not convicted of an excluded felony offense — AZDHS runs a fingerprint-based background check.
• Named by the patient on the patient’s own application. The patient chooses the caregiver, not the other way round.
• Limited to five qualifying patients at a time.

What a caregiver may do — and may not

May: buy at dispensaries for each registered patient, hold up to 2.5 ounces per patient, and cultivate for a patient who is authorized to grow — up to 12 plants per such patient, in a locked enclosed space.

May not: consume the patient’s marijuana, pool one patient’s allotment with another’s, sell or give any of it to anyone else, or keep cultivating for a patient who has left their care. A caregiver is a courier and a custodian, not a second patient.

Renewal

A caregiver registration runs for two years on its own clock. If the patient’s card lapses or the patient drops the designation, the caregiver’s authority for that patient ends with it.

Common questions

Can a caregiver be paid?

Arizona permits reimbursement for actual costs of assisting. It is not a route to selling cannabis, and treating it as one is how caregiver registrations get revoked.

Does the caregiver need a qualifying condition?

No. A caregiver is registered to assist, not to use. If they also want to use medical marijuana, they need their own patient card.

Can one patient have two caregivers?

No. A patient designates one.

Caregiver rules and fees are set by AZDHS and can change. Confirm current requirements at medicalmarijuana.azdhs.gov before applying.