A campaign to legalize marijuana for adults 21 and older in Arizona has picked up 75,000 signatures already, an achievement that makes the proposal ever more likely to appear on the state’s 2016 ballot. J.P. Holyoak, chair of the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, says today that his group…
A Mesa boy whose family won a major medical-marijuana court ruling in 2014 following threats from prosecutors has died at age 7. The life and legacy of Zander Welton will be celebrated at a service on Saturday that will be open to the public, says his mother, Jennifer Welton. “What…
In a sign that may bode well for legalization in Arizona next year, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper sounds surprisingly upbeat about his state’s bold marijuana law in an interview with our sister publication, Westword. Opponents of planned ballot measures in Arizona for the November 2016 election often point to Colorado…
A group of scientists and activists are coming to Phoenix later this month to talk about the “science” of marijuana in what appears to be another publicly funded prohibitionist political event. The all-day affair, “Marijuana: The Science and the Experiment,” promises to share “true scientific facts” about the alleged harms…
The Southwest Cannabis Conference and Expo will roll into the Phoenix Convention Center for three days in October, with 300 exhibitors, prominent guest speakers, a job fair, and other events expected to draw thousands. (Full disclosure: New Times is the media sponsor of the conference, along with the title sponsor,…
Arizona’s medical-marijuana patients now can patronize newly opened dispensaries in Reno and Las Vegas and possess up to 2.5 ounces anywhere in Nevada. Arizona, like some of the other 23 states with medical-marijuana laws, allows people with valid medical cards from other states to legally possess marijuana in Arizona, but…
Sarah Louise, a 20-year-old Arizona State University student, is a passionate advocate for legal marijuana who isn’t content to sit on the couch and dream of better drug laws. She’s an energetic and savvy activist who leads a local chapter of the national group Students for Sensible Drug Policy and…
Previous marijuana tax-revenue estimates were far too low, says a new report by the non-partisan Grand Canyon Institute. Arizona would raise about $72 million in revenue annually if voters make recreational marijuana legal in Arizona in November of next year with an anticipated ballot initiative, says the report, published on…
Sheriff Joe Arpaio has a serious pot connection, one that may score us all legal ganja come 2016: Republican political consultant Chad Willems of Summit Consulting Group. For many years, Willems has been Arpaio’s campaign guru and money man, helping Arpaio raise millions, outspending Arpaio’s opponents, and raking in a…
Backers of a marijuana-legalization plan in Arizona are outraged over an unsigned editorial in the Arizona Republic published on Friday that used an inaccurate tax-revenue figure to bolster its claim that campaign officials were lying. New Times also noticed the error on Friday morning and left the Republic’s editorial page editor,…
Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, and Washington D.C. have legalized marijuana for adults 21 and older, and Arizona voters will probably get the chance to decide the question for themselves next year. The people of the 48th state are a proud, independent-thinking bunch who prefer the federal government to butt out…
Supporters of a plan to legalize marijuana in Arizona gathered at the State Capitol today to symbolically grant the state a check for $40 million — the amount they say schools would reap if voters approve the plan next year. J.P. Holyoak, chair of the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like…
A team of 27 journalism students from the Carnegie-Knight News21 program at Arizona State University released a major investigative series on marijuana legalization this week that focuses on the many problems related to the evolving culture and legality of the plant. The students, ranging from 19 universities across the country…
Arizona has reached a marijuana-legalization milestone, with more than 80,000 people now qualified to legally possess, grow, or sell it for medicinal purposes. State voters passed the 2010 Medical Marijuana Act by a slim margin, resulting in about 90 dispensaries statewide and an ever-increasing number of patients, caregivers, and registered…
Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the anti-legalization group MATFORCE with a nice shout-out to the Phoenix New Times. In a Sunday article in Prescott’s Daily Courier newspaper, Polk tells reporter Scott Orr that New Times has made her and MATFORCE a “target” for their prohibitionist…
The Verde Independent, a 67-year-old newspaper based in Cottonwood, isn’t living up to its motto as the “trusted news leader” for Verde Valley communities. On Saturday, the online-and-print paper published what looked like a news article about a group of Valley residents busted in connection with a suspected illegal marijuana-growing…
The state Court of Appeals has ruled that the scent of marijuana alone can no longer be used as probable cause for a search warrant in Arizona because of the 2010 Medical Marijuana Act. Tuesday’s ruling provides more legal protection for medical-marijuana users and industry workers, as well as for…
After five years of legal medical-marijuana in Arizona, health department officials say this week they have no evidence that marijuana has been the cause of any death in the state. Nor can the same officials present to the public any supporting evidence behind a 2013 study that claims the deaths…
A lot of high hopes are riding on the November 2016 general election in Arizona. Paperwork for no less than six marijuana-related ballot measures has been filed with the state Secretary of State’s Office in the last few months, each aiming to make fundamental changes to the state’s drug laws…
Sheila Polk, Yavapai County Attorney and the state’s chief marijuana opponent, found her so-called facts about marijuana falling flat in a legalization discussion hosted by Arizona State University on Thursday. The Republican politician’s been on a crusade against cannabis freedom for several years now, appearing frequently at town-hall presentations across…
A new Rocky Mountain Poll finds that 53 percent of Arizonans back legalizing marijuana for adults, with only 39 percent opposed to the idea. The poll also shows that 83 percent of Arizonans now support the type of university research on the potential medicinal effects of marijuana advocated by Dr…
In an opinion that impacts several criminal cases around the state, the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled on Wednesday that authorized medical-marijuana patients cannot sell cannabis to other patients. The 3-0 ruling by the state’s Division Two appeals court overturns a decision made last July by Pima County Superior Court Judge Richard…
