Yuma has two populations and they need two different answers. Year-round residents get the same Arizona card as anyone else. Winter visitors — somewhere between 70,000 and 90,000 of them arrive between January and March, roughly doubling the county’s population and contributing an estimated $450 million to the local economy — mostly cannot get one, and the card they already hold does not help.
If you live here year-round
$149 for the evaluation, $150 to AZDHS, $299 total, valid two years. $224 if you are on SNAP. A physician certifies you, generally the same day; you file the state application yourself; AZDHS has up to 10 business days to issue the card. You will need an Arizona driver license or state ID — residency is the requirement that catches people out here more than anywhere else in the state.
Outside the city, toward Wellton and the Dateland stretch, the 25-mile cultivation rule starts to bite in your favor: a patient more than 25 miles from the nearest dispensary may grow up to twelve plants. See growing at home.
If you are here for the winter
Three things, and the first one surprises almost everybody.
Your home-state medical card does not work in Arizona dispensaries. Arizona recognizes an out-of-state card for possession only, under ARS §36-2804.03. It does not let you buy. A visiting patient cannot shop at an Arizona medical dispensary, whatever the card says.
You probably cannot get an Arizona card either. The program is for Arizona residents, evidenced by an Arizona license or state ID. A winter address and an out-of-state license will not do it.
What you can do: if you are 21 or over, buy adult-use with your regular photo ID, like any other adult. You pay the 16% excise tax that medical patients do not, and the limit is one ounce rather than 2.5. For a three-month stay that is usually the whole answer.
The border, plainly
San Luis is half an hour away and the crossing is federal ground. Cannabis does not go across in either direction — not with a card, not in small amounts, not in a glovebox you forgot about. The April 2026 move of state-licensed medical marijuana to Schedule III changed nothing about this; see what Schedule III did and did not change. The same applies to the Yuma Proving Ground and any other federal land.
Where to buy
Any Arizona-licensed dispensary accepts the card. The current list of licensees is published by AZDHS at azdhs.gov. In season, call ahead — Yuma’s retail hours move with the winter population.
Arizona resident? $299 covers two years.
$149 evaluation + $150 AZDHS fee · $224 on SNAP · refunded if the physician declines.
Start my evaluation →Residency and card rules are set by AZDHS; border and interstate questions are federal. Nothing here is legal advice.