Mayor John Suthers of Colorado Springs, Colorado, is an outspoken opponent of marijuana legalization — but even he doesn’t support Arizona’s felony-possession law. Suthers — also a former Colorado Attorney General — came to Arizona this week to denounce Prop 205 on behalf of the opposition group Arizonans for Responsible…
Demitri Downing, a former prosecutor and the son of Arizona Rep. Ted Downing (D-Tucson), wants to make the recently renamed Marijuana Industry Trade Association a strong voice for the growing number of Arizona cannabis businesses. The industry has been loosely organized since its inception in 2012, but now needs a…
Governor Doug Ducey’s work to defeat marijuana legalization in Arizona has included a lot of behind-the-scenes fundraising, including a pricey propaganda talk set for Tuesday at a posh hotel. Ducey’s the headlining special guest for the expensive “roundtable discussion” and reception that begins at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the…
Dear Stoner: Why are all you potheads so gung-ho about the benefits of smoking weed? I smoke it from time to time, but I don’t tell my friends to light up a joint instead of visiting the doctor. It’s pot, not magic beans. Grinding Gary Dear Gary: Magic buds, maybe…
Dear Stoner: Why does smoking weed make you hungry? Like, does science know why? Stewie Dear Stewie: The munchies are real, man. Although no one could definitively point to a brain reaction and say “There it is” for a long time, by 2015 marijuana’s ability to increase appetite was already…
A Chandler drug firm under investigation for its aggressive sales of a lethal painkiller claims that a large donation to a group opposing marijuana legalization was made to protect the public’s safety. Insys Therapeutics, which has made billions selling an opiate-based Fentanyl drug called Subsys, expects to soon launch a…
A ballot initiative that aims to give adults the freedom to use, possess, and grow marijuana in Arizona might pass if the vote were held today, a new poll shows. About 600,000 Arizonans 21 and older use cannabis, research from the State Legislature has shown. All face potential felony charges…
Dear Stoner: Does marijuana help with depression? Searching Dear Searching: Unfortunately, the answer is not a simple yes or no. There’s such a wide range of studies on the subject that trying to wrap your head around it can make your hair fall out — or leave you more depressed…
Proposition 205, Arizona’s controversial recreational-marijuana initiative, was the subject of yet another lawsuit this week. Last week a judge threw out a suit filed by opponents of the initiative who alleged that the 100-word summary on the petition to get the measure on the November ballot was misleading and fraudulent. …
Arizona’s medical-marijuana program could be in for substantial changes if voters approve Proposition 205, which makes marijuana legal for all adults 21 and older. Will Humble, former director of the Arizona Department of Health Services, says the impact on patients will depend largely on the director of the Department of…
On Thursday, a Maricopa County judge threw out a lawsuit challenging the pending Arizona ballot initiative to legalize marijuana for recreational use. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Jo Lynn Gentry ruled that the plaintiffs had no legal standing and made no legitimate claims. The ruling appears to clear the way for the initiative,…
You would be forgiven for not recognizing the nondescript brick warehouse in Phoenix’s Grand Avenue industrial district as the site of a high-tech agricultural facility. But as soon as you step inside, the smell of hundreds of marijuana plants is overwhelming. As you make your way through the small…
What a busy week in weed! The Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act (RTMA) has exceeded its signature goal and will be on the November ballot, the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office confirmed on Wednesday. Matt Roberts, spokesman for the office, said the state will likely issue a certification today making the…
If voters approve it in November, the pending ballot initiative to legalize marijuana for recreational use in Arizona stands to eliminate several felony arrests each day in the city of Phoenix alone. On average, the Phoenix police have arrested more than seven people a day since January 2015 for suspicion…
The medical-marijuana industry is exploding in Arizona, restrained only by limitations that state and city officials have imposed on it. Nothing exemplifies the potential of this lucrative trade like the numbers the Arizona Department of Health Services reported today on the flood of applications the agency received in July for…
Opponents of a ballot measure to legalize marijuana in Arizona threaten a looming catastrophe of liability lawsuits for employers. From the start, Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy, an anti-legalization political action committee led by conservative radio show host Seth Leibsohn and Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk, has maintained (see PDF below) that the…
The Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia has adopted a bold pro-marijuana platform that could have an effect on Arizona’s upcoming legalization vote. With heavy input from Bernie Sanders supporters, the draft platform document was publicized earlier this month and showed a heavy lean to the left wing of the party. Regarding…
Following calls from New Times and an ex-Cottonwood city councilman, MATFORCE, the Yavapai County-based group that opposes cannabis legalization, has corrected a misleading tweet that proclaimed, “Evidence of THC found in Colorado town’s water supply.” Despite a very brief public scare last week, THC, the main psychoactive component in marijuana, never…
Dear Stoner: How long have people been getting high off of marijuana? Sean in Lakewood Dear Sean: Recorded cultivation of cannabis for fiber goes back as far as 7,000 years in some parts of the world — that much we know. As for how long humans have been getting stoned,…
The two main issues behind a cannabis-legalization law set to make the ballot this November are 1) individual freedom, and 2) an end to felony prohibition for possession of marijuana for personal use. But if voters approve it, the Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act would do more than just…
Activists who oppose a measure to legalize marijuana in Arizona were excited to let the world know about a news article shared on social media that blasts the notion that passage would guarantee a tax windfall. The Twitter site for Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy, a well-funded group headed up…
Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk and talk-show host Seth Leibsohn don’t want Arizonans to be able to decide whether marijuana should remain a felony-level drug or become as legal as beer. But following a brief hearing regarding the lawsuit they filed seeking to nullify a measure widely expected to appear…
