-year-old Matthew Keller became — by all accounts — the first person to be arrested in Arizona for possession of “Spice,” a synthetic form of marijuana outlawed in the Grand Canyon State in February. He was charged with a felony.After getting pulled over by a Yavapai County sheriff’s deputy last…
Federal agents may bust anyone participating in a “large” pot-growing operation, despite Arizona’s voter-approved medical marijuana law, says Arizona U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke in a letter to the state. In a recent letter to Will Humble, the director of the state Department of Health Services, Burke reiterates that the feds will look the other…
For the second time this month, a random person in a Philadelphia suburb received an unanticipated brick of weed in the mail from an Arizona address. Just two weeks ago an elderly couple in the town of Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, opened a package with an Arizona return address with five…
Arizona is well-known as a corridor for smuggling marijuana, and out-of-towners often like to take home a souvenir. Weed, however, is not allowed on airplanes, so stoners are occasionally forced to mail their cannabinoid keepsakes to their out of state homes (click here and here for a couple examples). When…
Most people approved to use marijuana legally in Arizona complain of chronic pain related to back problems, severe headaches, injuries or arthritis, new stats show. The Department of Health Services is keeping close track of nearly every facet of the program, and will also soon release the number of recommendations…
A well-publicized medical marijuana expo at University of Phoenix Stadium over the weekend attracted fewer people than some disappointed vendors expected. Others, however, called the Green Relief Convention and Expo, which took place Thursday, Friday and Saturday, a success. A few thousand people showed up to check out the dozens of vendor booths…
hempbeach.com Thursday was the first day for hopeful medical-marijuana patients to apply for their voter-mandated medicine, and spokeswoman Laura Oxley tells New Times that the Arizona Department of Health Services approved 44 out of the 65 applications processed by 3 p.m. The department had 110 applications for medical pot by the end…
As New Times noted yesterday, if you smoke pot, and have any of the symptoms that could potentially qualify you for a medical-marijuana card, you’d be an idiot to not at least try to get one.Our advocacy of medical marijuana, however, has apparently pissed off at least one reader, who…
The final rules for medical marijuana are too tough on patients and may encourage a lawsuit, says one Valley doctor. Edgard Suter, an East Valley nuclear medicine physician who has been an outspoken advocate for medical marijuana, decried an addition to the draft rules that requires doctors to state the underlying condition causing “chronic…
If you ever smoke or use marijuana, it’s time to see the doctor. The Arizona Medical Marijuana Act is the law of the land, and now the state Department of Health Services has provided a map to legal immunity for anyone interested in possessing pot. The final rules from…
Proposition 203 has sparked dismissal of pot-possession charges in Mohave County against at least 10 people who had out-of-state medical-weed cards. Though the charges shouldn’t have been brought against such marijuana card-holders in the first place, what’s been happening in northwestern Arizona is a definite sign that “the times they are a changin’.” More…
The state Department of Health Services has published its “final” rules intended to guide and maintain the medical-marijuana system approved by voters last year. Whether the rules will be challenged in court remains to be seen.We glanced through the new rules this morning, but realize that many of you — having…
Arizona’s new medical-marijuana law protects qualified patients from discrimination by their employers, a progressive feature that sets it apart from similar laws in other states. A legislative bill we told you about last month aims to dilute that protection, however, and it has solid support among state lawmakers. The Patient Discrimination Act, is…
In a creative yet another case of people making illicit Build-A-Bears, a former Arizona resident has been arrested in Iowa for mailing teddy bears filled with pot. At least one was mailed from Tempe, authorities say. Douglas Duane Hoffman, 53, was arrested on Monday and slapped with marijuana distribution charges…
A state lawmaker wants to scratch out the anti-discrimination clause in Arizona’s medical marijuana law and give immunity to employers who fire qualified patients. The callous bill by State Representative Kimberly Yee, R-Phoenix, also seeks to ban people from using medical weed “in a condominium or planned community common area that…
Most Arizona residents prefer larger cultivation facilities for medical pot and residency requirements for dispensary owners, says a poll commissioned by the folks who brought you Prop 203.Joe Yuhas of the Arizona Medical Marijuana Association spoke of the poll results today at the medical marijuana rules hearing in Tempe, and…
It’s standing-room only here at the state-sponsored public hearing on medical marijuana at Arizona State University. Looks like at least 400 people showed up, cramming into all the chairs and lining up along the back wall of the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law’s Great Hall in Tempe. This is just…
Montana’s State House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly yesterday to repeal that state’s 2004 voter-approved medical marijuana initiative The repeal bill still needs to go before the State Senate — and faces possible veto by Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, a Democrat. But the vote, even though it fell sharply along party…
Medical marijuana dispensaries are still months from opening their doors, but Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is getting antsy. A press release from the Sheriff’s Office Wednesday says it has created a new enforcement unit that targets “medical marijuana frauds,” even though medical marijuana patients can’t even apply for privileges…
Here’s another tip from the wide world of marijuana transportation: Apparently a bunch of expired juice boxes isn’t a good cover for hauling more than 1,300 pounds of weed. Nonetheless, police allege 45-year-old Wendell M. Stoddart of doing just that…
State Representative Steve Farley, D-Tucson, plans to amend his proposed 300 percent tax on medical marijuana, lowering the tax rate to 100 percent of the retail cost. The amendment, which hasn’t yet been posted online, also details where the new revenue would go. Farley’s assistant tells New Times that the…
If you were to grow more than 300 weed plants inside your house, here’s a bit of information that might come in handy next time you’re in the Febreeze aisle at Walmart: it’s gonna stink. A Chandler man’s indoor weed forest smelled so bad, in fact, that cops could smell…
