Will Humble, director of the state Department of Health Services, got the notion to ask the state Attorney General’s office whether cannabis clubs were legal after reading last week’s feature article in New Times, says a DHS spokeswoman.We figured that might have been the case and wrote in a blog…
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie isn’t scared of the feds anymore when it comes to medical marijuana dispensaries.Though the Republican governor said last month he would wait for assurance from the U.S. Justice Department before allowing dispensaries, which were approved by his state’s Legislature two years ago, Christie reversed course…
A 71-year-old Phoenix man recently applied for a medical-marijuana card — which apparently was all it took to make him a target for a few punks looking to steal some medical weed.According to the Phoenix Police Department, about 5:30 p.m. yesterday, a neighbor of the victim’s called 9-1-1 to report…
The rise of medical-marijuana clubs in Arizona is giving state officials an anxiety attack. Will Humble, director of the Arizona Department of Health Services, writes in his latest blog post that his agency has asked the state Attorney General’s Office to check into whether the clubs can operate legally. We’ve been telling you…
Governor Jan Brewer is using a supposed threat to state workers as a “pretext” for thwarting the will of voters, say advocates of the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act in a court action filed today. The American Civil Liberties Union makes that case in a court motion filed today in the…
Governor Jan Brewer believes that a “clarification” by the feds on medical-marijuana programs proves she took the “proper course of action” in halting the voter-approved dispensary program.Brewer and state Attorney General Tom Horne filed a declaratory judgment in federal court in May, and also instructed the Department of Health Services…
Jesus Busso Estopellan, who admitted murdering an Arizona State University student and his friend earlier this week, told police he was ordered to kill one of the men by an unidentified “Jamaican” following a weed deal gone wrong. According to court documents obtained by New Times, Estopellan told detectives he brokered…
The medical-marijuana-dispensary industry faces more hurdles and delays following a “clarification” by the U.S. Justice Department, industry reps say.The letter by Deputy U.S. Attorney General James Cole, which dizzily seems to give protection to marijuana patients while threatening the businesses that serve them, was sent to U.S. Attorneys in all…
The Obama Administration has little interest in prosecuting medical-marijuana patients or their caregivers, states a letter by Deputy U.S. Attorney General James Cole.The letter appears to be the awaited “clarification” by the Administration promised earlier this month by Attorney General Eric Holder. And, as we predicted last week, it’s about…
A new medical-marijuana club managed by Allan Sobol — an industry huckster and pot-business pioneer — says it will give away up to an eighth of an ounce of “high-grade” pot for “free” to qualified patients. Naturally, there’s a catch. The club charges members a hefty $75 in dues each…
Want pot? Are you one of Arizona’s 6,000-plus, card-carrying, qualified medical marijuana patients? Or a valid patient from another state? Join the club. In a creative work-around to the state’s lack of marijuana dispensaries, a group of card-holding patients are offering various strains of buds, edibles and tinctures in exchange for donations…
Four U.S. Congressmen want Attorney General Eric Holder to clarify the Obama Adminstration’s position on medical marijuana, and what they’re asking for cuts down party lines. Ironically, it’s two Democrats who are pushing for states’ rights, while two Republicans are demanding that the federal government keep its stranglehold on the marijuana industry…
In the past week, Gilbert police — under the leadership of Chief Tim Dorn — have raided the home of a qualifying medical marijuana patient, arrested another patient, and busted up a pot-patient co-op in Tempe.As we’ve pointed out, it seems the Gilbert Police Department is going rogue with its arrests…
Gilbert police are taking a harsher stance on the state’s new medical-marijuana law than other Valley police agencies, but Police Chief Tim Dorn can’t be troubled to explain his policy. Dorn’s hiding behind his spokesman, Sergeant Bill Balafas, who tells New Times that we won’t get an interview — or…
In the latest sign that Gilbert police have gone rogue, a medical-marijuana patient tells New Times that he was taken to jail two nights ago for possessing a half-ounce of weed. This is the third case we’ve heard about in the past week in which Gilbert officers allegedly…
Gilbert police made another medical-marijuana raid last week — this one at the office of a Tempe advocacy group where patients sold pot to other patients.About 4 p.m. last Thursday, cops — some in masks — entered the small office of the Medical Marijuana Advocacy Group, in an industrial complex at…
Arizona’s medical marijuana program is presenting a strange, new world for law enforcement. Before a single state resident had a registration card issued by the Arizona Department of Health Services, police in Mohave County were seeing pot-possession cases that would normally be routine suddenly dumped by prosecutors. Yesterday, we wrote…
Twenty Gilbert police officers, some in masks and riot gear, stormed a home last week after receiving a tip that the owner was in possession of an ounce of marijuana. The homeowner, Ross Taylor, is a card-carrying patient under Arizona’s new medical-marijuana law, which allows people to qualify to possess up to…
Would-be marijuana dispensary owners and their lawyers filed lawsuits today in an attempt to reverse Governor Jan Brewer’s attack on a voter-approved law. Last month, Brewer directed state Attorney General Tom Horne to file a federal lawsuit against the new law, which voters narrowly passed in the November election. Horne admitted to…
Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne discussed a plan to launch legal action against the state’s medical marijuana law during a January sit-down meeting with the law’s biggest opponent. Carolyn Short, who led last year’s unsuccessful campaign to defeat Proposition 203, refers to the meeting in a February 16 letter to state Department of Health…
Larry Miller, 38, tried to rob medical marijuana from a Phoenix man yesterday afternoon, which was a colossal mistake — the man he tried to rob fatally shot him.According to the Phoenix Police Department Miller and another man contacted a guy who’d been advertising himself as a medical marijuana salesman.The…
Governor Jan Brewer followed through today on her threat to attack Arizona’s voter-approved medical marijuana law, but advocates of democracy are fighting back. Numerous defendants have signed on to oppose Brewer’s suit, including the backers of Prop 203, the Arizona Medical Marijuana Association. The American Civil Liberties Union will cover the…
