Ninety percent of medical-marijuana cardholders didn’t qualify for nothing but “chronic and severe pain,” as Channel 5’s Morgan Loew reported last week, the director of the Arizona Department of Health Services told us this morning. New Times writer Matthew Hendley wrote several articles recently about Loew’s May 15 report on…
Medical-marijuana cardholders can be prosecuted when they possess too much weed or do something else that falls outside the boundaries of state law, the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled last week. It sounds like a no-brainer — break the law, you could be prosecuted. But the voter-approved 2010 Medical Marijuana…
Rushing to the defense of CBS 5’s severely flawed “investigation” of the state’s medical-marijuana program is Pinal County Attorney Lando Voyles, who wants to add to the disinformation campaign.In fact, Voyles sent out a press release including a public thank-you note to CBS 5, thanking them for the “investigation” and…
Pot by itself was not much of a factor in injury and fatal crashes probed last year by the Arizona Department of Public Safety. Fewer than 1 percent of suspected impaired drivers involved in such crashes tested positive for nothing but marijuana. New Times’ findings, based on a records request…
CBS 5 — the local news station that claims to be “telling it like it is” — prominently displayed a made-up statistic during its recent anti-medical marijuana propaganda piece “investigation.”In the report, in which “investigative reporter” Morgan Loew told the state health department it was true that he had severe…
Smoking marijuana has “remarkable” effect on diabetic problems and may lower risk of getting the disease, a study published on Wednesday states. This news comes a few days after a presentation at the annual conference of the American Urological Association that links heavy pot use to a much lower risk…
It shouldn’t be illegal to possess a little marijuana, according to more than half of Arizona’s residents.This Behavior Research Center poll, released today, shows that 56 percent of the Arizonans surveyed are in favor of “legalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use,” with majority support from…
For the millions of people who now use marijuana legally under their states’ laws, driving in Arizona is technically a crime. Motorists with pot metabolites in their bloodstreams who want to avoid a marijuana DUI — which comes with nasty fines and a one-year suspension of driving privileges, instead of…
A Phoenix cop smelled marijuana coming from a car last week while he was on routine patrol, and that officer ended up finding a bag of weed and a pipe — after the passenger in the car pulled the items out of her vagina.The officer didn’t see anything in the…
Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk announced in dramatic fashion last July that federal authorities would shut down every medical-marijuana dispensary in Arizona “as it opens.” Polk made the bad prediction in a letter she penned and sent to the governor after getting several other county attorneys to sign it. We…
State Senator Kimberly Yee’s plan to let cops seize and destroy medical-marijuana at their whim appears dead, a political consultant for the dispensary industry says. Jason Rose, previously a PR guy for the likes of Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Andrew Thomas, now counts among his clients the Regulated Dispensaries of…
The state-regulated medical-marijuana dispensary industry that Arizona voters approved in late 2010 is becoming a reality, with three new retail shops opening this week. Two dispensaries were slated to open today: One in Glendale (the city that already supports the only medical-pot facility in the Phoenix metro area), and another…
Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery has been shot down by the Arizona Supreme Court in his attempt to expedite a decision about Arizona’s medical-marijuana law. Today’s decision by the state’s highest court to reject Montgomery’s petition represents a lost battle for the conservative lawman’s crusade against the voter-approved law, but…
Former anti-drug crusader U.S. Attorney Mel McDonald, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, appears to be very serious about defending Arizona’s medical-marijuana law as a citizen and father of a patient who uses medical marijuana.You may have seen the video McDonald recorded a couple months ago, giving a glowing…
On the list of people we’d probably never expect to come out in support of the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act, we’d probably put an anti-drug crusader U.S. Attorney who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan somewhere near the top of the list.However, we’ve seen that man, A. Melvin McDonald, all…
Arizona police would have the right to destroy medical marijuana seized in investigations under a proposed law — even if the police seizures were made improperly or illegally. State Senator Kimberly Yee, R-Phoenix, hasn’t actually introduced a bill yet at the State Capitol, apparently preferring to introduce her legislative ideas…
A new poll that shows high support by Arizona voters for medical marijuana is unlikely to be challenged by anti-pot lawmaker Representative John Kavanagh: The political consulting firm used by Kavanagh and his wife, Fountain Hills Mayor Linda Kavanagh, conducted the survey. Kavanagh still hopes to pass a bill that…
James Chaney, the owner of a Tempe medical-marijuana club that was the site of a shooting last year, was arrested today in a raid of the club and two alleged Tempe “grow houses.” In a news release that invites the media to talk to cops about the raids at, hilariously,…
A group of medical-marijuana dispensary owners at the State Capitol yesterday afternoon urged authorities to shut down unregulated cannabis clubs. Meanwhile, up the road in a small, west Valley strip mall, medical-marijuana patients toked up openly in a “lounge” that has the look, feel, and scent of a Dutch coffeeshop…
An increased number of Arizona voters support the 2010 Medical Marijuana Act, and most would vote to end marijuana prohibition, a new poll shows. The poll of 600 Arizonan residents was conducted on January 9 and 10 by Public Policy Polling on behalf of the National Cannabis Industry Association. The…
John Kavanagh, the Republican State Representative from Fountain Hills, doesn’t want any exceptions in a proposed medical-pot repeal for patients with cancer, AIDS, or any other serious disease. Verifiable illness or not, they would be booked into jail under Arizona’s felony possession law like any of the hundreds of people…
Don’t you hate when you park near Mexico for a few minutes and end up with 35 pounds of weed in your car’s spare tire? That’s what Daren Rucker, 51, of Tucson says happened to him on Tuesday, according to federal court records. When Rucker pulled up at the northbound…
