Billy Benjamin Hayes Jr., 39, is one of the state’s most vocal marijuana activists. Few people welcomed the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act when voters passed it in 2010 more than Hayes. The lanky father of three is a marijuana enthusiast, a grower for nearly his whole life who imbibes regularly,…
A passenger on a flight out of Phoenix’s Sky Harbor airport tried to check luggage containing 92 pounds of marijuana, according to the TSA. A TSA spokesman says the Phoenix Police Department was contacted once agents made the discovery. According to court documents obtained by New Times, 39-year-old Lauretta Blanton…
Sue Sisley has been fired again. An apparent victim of hardball politics, the Valley doctor and would-be cannabis researcher was told by the University of Arizona in June to vacate her office at the school’s downtown Phoenix campus. Now Sisley’s been booted off the Maricopa County Medical Society’s board of…
Arizona’s “top” prosecutors on Thursday urged the public to oppose cannabis legalization, warning that diverted medical marijuana is an increasing source of the drug for teens. Problem is, these modern-day prohibitionists are cherry-picking their data from the newly released 2014 Arizona Youth Survey by the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission. And…
The dangers of fire and explosions related to “hash oil” may be newsworthy, but Friday’s Arizona Republic story on the cannabis concentrate reads more like pro-prohibition propaganda. “Dangerous hash-oil blasts are an increasing concern,” according to the headline of the Valley & State story. A sub-head continues, “In markets with…
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office is prosecuting a college student with a medical-marijuana card for felony possession of less than a gram of weed. Andre Lee Juwaun Maestas, a 19-year-old Arizona State University student, could end up with a felony on his record, probation and stiff fines because of the…
Medical-marijuana patients are still at risk for a DUI conviction simply for having trace amounts of THC in their bloodstreams, the state Court of Appeals confirmed on Tuesday. In a 3-0 ruling with disclaimers by one judge, the court upheld the conviction of a Mesa man despite an apparent exception…
Proponents of a 2016 citizens’ initiative in Arizona that aims to legalize marijuana for adults 21 and older filed paperwork with the state on Thursday, the first step in their campaign. The Marijuana Policy Project of Arizona initiative still has a long way to go before becoming a law. But…
Sue Sisley, M.D., is nearly blind. She can’t see out of her left eye and has minimal vision in her right, resulting from amblyopia, a condition she’s had since birth. Her remaining eyesight “doesn’t seem to be deteriorating further,” she says. But in recent months, Sisley’s been trying to train…
When Arlin Troutt was sentenced in February 1996 for a marijuana-selling conspiracy, a crowd of supporters came to the Minneapolis federal courtroom to cheer him on. The Arizona resident and former frontman for a line of hempwear affiliated with country singer Willie Nelson had been convicted of conspiring to transport…
Medical-marijuana patients from Arizona and other states could shop legally at as-yet-unopened Nevada dispensaries under a plan being developed by Nevada authorities. Chad Westom, bureau chief of the Nevada Division of Public & Behavioral Health, said on Monday that his state’s new medical-marijuana program will honor Arizona registration cards…
Marijuana use by teens continues to decline in Colorado since the proliferation of retail medical-pot stores, but the state’s health department would rather focus on perceptions over reality. A news release put out today by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is headlined, “New survey documents youth marijuana…
New statistics by the Arizona Department of Health Services show that Arizona now has more than 50,000 qualifying, adult patients. As of June 30, the state had 52,638 “active cardholders,” which is a 9.1 percent increase from the last official number published by the agency on March 28 of 48,231…
Arizona’s medical-marijuana law is so vague, the state can’t prosecute patients who sell pot to other patients, a Pima County Superior Court judge has ruled. The offbeat July 2 ruling and dismissal of a criminal case by Judge Richard Fields has the potential to open up all sorts of entrepreneurial…
Sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder can begin obtaining medical marijuana legally under Arizona law as soon as January. Will Humble, director of the Arizona Department of Health Services, announced the decision today in his blog. PTSD patients and medical-cannabis advocates have been expecting a decision since last month, when state…
The University of Arizona isn’t saying much about the firing of medical-marijuana researcher Sue Sisley, but officials deny any political motivations. In an email sent to the Phoenix New Times in response to our questions this morning, a U of A representative also notes that the university has “championed” medical-marijuana…
Dr. Sue Sisley, the outspoken physician and medical-marijuana researcher, has been fired from a University of Arizona job, possibly due to political pressure. Joe “Skip” Garcia, the University of Arizona’s senior vice president for health sciences, who happens to earn $810,000 a year, is being trounced in the news this…
Legally obtaining and using marijuana just got easier for patients of one Valley-based home-hospice service. Starting this month, Comprehensive Hospice and Palliative Care offers an in-house doctor who will recommend cannabis for patients who qualify under state law…
An administrative law judge this week ordered the state to allow PTSD sufferers to use medical marijuana, reversing a decision by the state health-services department. Will Humble, director of the state DHS, wrote about Wednesday’s decision by state Administrative Law Judge Thomas Shedden in his blog today. “I have until…
At BC Wellness Center, a small retail shop in Black Canyon City, two black vending machines sit side by side behind a counter, where they can be accessed only by employees. Instead of Famous Amos cookies or soda pop, packets of buds and various cannabis-infused edibles and juices sit tucked…
Arizonans no longer risk getting a DUI for driving with an inactive metabolite of marijuana in their blood following a ruling by the state’s high court. The Arizona Supreme Court announced this morning that it was reaffirming the trial court’s decision to dump the case of Hrach Shilgevorkyan, who was…
If you’ve been craving a dose of “Reefer Madness,” there’s still time to RSVP to Thursday’s annual conference of the central Arizona anti-drug organization MATForce. The public portion of the conference runs from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors auditorium, 205 West Jefferson Street. The…
