PHOENIX -- A House panel voted Wednesday to ban medical marijuana use and possession on college and university campuses, setting the stage for a lawsuit. The unanimous vote by members of the House Committee on Higher Education came after Rep. Amanda Reeve, R-Phoenix, said the schools fear loss of both direct federal aid and federally backed student loans if they allow faculty and students to possess the drug. That was backed by Kristen Boilini who lobbies for several community colleges. She said the law will reinforce policies the schools already have in place. [continues 393 words]
PHOENIX - A House panel voted Wednesday to ban medical marijuana use and possession on college and university campuses, setting the stage for a lawsuit. The unanimous vote by members of the House Committee on Higher Education came after Rep. Amanda Reeve, R-Phoenix, said the schools fear loss of both direct federal aid and federally backed student loans if they allow faculty and students to possess the drug. That was backed by Kristen Boilini who lobbies for several community colleges. She said the law will reinforce policies the schools already have in place. [continues 352 words]
PHOENIX -- State lawmakers are moving today to deny university and college students living on campus the right to use medical marijuana even if they have the legally required doctor's recommendation for the drug. Legislation crafted by Rep. Amanda Reeve, R-Phoenix, would make it illegal not only to use but even to possess marijuana on the campus of any public or private post-secondary institution. That would include not only the state university system and network of community colleges but also various private schools that offer degrees or certificates. [continues 550 words]
PHOENIX -- The state's first medical marijuana dispensaries could be up, running and selling the drug by mid July. State Health Director Will Humble announced Tuesday he will not appeal a court ruling invalidating some of the rules he had crafted limiting who can own and operate the shops, including a requirement to be a resident for at least three years. Those rules also gave favorable treatment to applicants who had never declared bankruptcy. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Richard Gama said last week that the 2010 voter-approved initiative creating a medical marijuana system in Arizona did not allow for such restrictions. [continues 513 words]
PHOENIX - The state's first medical marijuana dispensaries could be up, running and selling the drug by mid-July. State Health Director Will Humble announced Tuesday he will not appeal a court ruling invalidating some of the rules he had crafted limiting who can own and operate the shops, including a requirement to be a resident for at least three years. Those rules also gave favorable treatment to applicants who had never declared bankruptcy. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Richard Gama said last week that the 2010 voter-approved initiative creating a medical marijuana system in Arizona did not allow for such restrictions. [continues 513 words]
PHOENIX - A state judge has ordered Gov. Jan Brewer to finally fully implement the 2010 voter-approved Medical Marijuana Act, saying she acted illegally in holding it up. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Richard Gama rejected the governor's argument that she has the discretion to delay enactment of parts of the law while she sought a ruling from another court about the liability of state workers under federal drug laws. "Defendants cite no authority for this proposition, and the court has found none," Gama wrote in his ruling made public Wednesday. [continues 456 words]
PHOENIX -- Gov. Jan Brewer agreed Friday to finally let the state issue licenses to operate medical marijuana dispensaries -- but not immediately. Brewer said she will not pursue a lawsuit seeking a ruling of whether state employees who process those applications can be prosecuted under federal drug laws. A judge threw out that lawsuit last month as legally flawed but gave the governor a chance to fix the problems and refile it. That, Brewer said, will not happen. "I have directed the Arizona Department of Health Services to begin accepting and processing dispensary applications," Brewer said. [continues 609 words]
PHOENIX -- A federal judge on Wednesday refused to tell Gov. Jan Brewer whether she can legally implement Arizona's voter-approved medical marijuana law. Judge Susan Bolton rejected the governor's argument that she wanted to know if state employees who process applications for marijuana dispensaries could be at risk of prosecution under federal laws which make possession and distribution of the drug illegal. Bolton said the letter to state health officials from Dennis Burke when he was the chief federal prosecutor in Arizona contained no such threat. [continues 585 words]
PHOENIX - Gov. Jan Brewer decided Wednesday to ask a federal judge to overturn a key portion of the state's voter-approved medical marijuana law. Press aide Matthew Benson said his boss is now taking the position that federal law preempts a provision in last year's initiative which requires the state to issue permits for about 125 dispensaries where medical marijuana users can legally purchase the drug. She wants U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton to rule that Arizona cannot process the applications from would-be dispensary owners. [continues 496 words]
PHOENIX -- A federal judge chided Attorney General Tom Horne Monday, saying he was asking her to do his job: advising state agencies on the law. U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton said the state wants her to rule whether Arizona can issue licenses to dispensaries to sell marijuana to medical users without its workers being prosecuted for violating federal laws that make any use of the drug illegal. Gov. Jan Brewer has refused to process applications for dispensaries until she gets an answer. [continues 661 words]
The claim of a former nurse at a Cottonwood hospice could become the first case to test the limits on employers under the state's year-old medical marijuana law. Attorneys for Esther Shapiro contend she was fired from Verde Valley Community Hospice because she is a medical marijuana user. They want Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Michael McVey to award her damages. Repeated calls to the facility seeking comment were not returned. Arizona is one of several states where voters have approved laws allowing those with a doctor's recommendation to obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes. [continues 467 words]
PHOENIX -- Exactly five months into the voter-approved program, more than 13,000 Arizonans now have the state's legal permission to get high. And at this rate, 32,000 of your friends and neighbors will be card-carrying medical marijuana users when the system hits the first anniversary. But state Health Director Will Humble said he cannot predict ultimately what percentage of Arizonans will become medical marijuana users. He said, though, there is no immediate indication that the figure will hit 200,000 any time soon, the number of people in Colorado -- a state of similar size -- who possess that's state's medical marijuana card. [continues 540 words]
PHOENIX -- The state's top health official wants an investigation of eight Arizona doctors who together have written nearly half the nearly 10,000 recommendations for medical marijuana since the program started. Will Humble said the voter-approved law making medical marijuana legal denies him the legal authority to discipline or even question the doctors. But the state health director said that does not preclude him from turning their names over to the regulatory boards that do have that power. At this point, he said, it is up to those boards to decide if the doctors have violated professional standards. [continues 909 words]
PHOENIX -- Calling them illegal drug dealers, Attorney General Tom Horne asked a judge on Monday to shut down the "marijuana clubs' that are opening up around the state. In legal papers filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, Horne said the medical marijuana law that voters approved last November has no provision for the kind of clubs where members, after paying a fee, can get access to free drugs. More to the point, he said the exceptions in the law that club owners say permit what they do does not exist. [continues 584 words]
Federal attorneys asked a judge on Monday to throw out a lawsuit filed by Gov. Jan Brewer seeking a ruling about the legality of the state's medical marijuana law. Deputy U.S. Attorney Scott Risner said there is no legal basis for the lawsuit. Risner told U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton in legal papers filed in her court that, absent some actual threat of prosecution under federal drug laws by his office, the question is purely academic and therefore not a proper subject for litigation. [continues 416 words]
PHOENIX -- You could soon have a marijuana club down the block or around the corner. An entrepreneur in the state's nascent medical marijuana industry has found what he believes is a loophole in the law that restricts the distribution of the drug to just 125 specially licensed dispensaries. Allan Sobol already has opened his first club in North Phoenix and has plans with his business partners to expand elsewhere. But the exception Sobol has found means more than the possibility of these clubs showing up in every strip mall. It also gets around the fact that health officials are refusing to even accept applications for those who want to operate one of those limited number of heavily regulated dispensaries. [continues 923 words]
Lawsuits Expected As Lawmakers Fight Voter-Approved Legislation PHOENIX - State Health Director Will Humble turned away a request by doctors Wednesday to operate a marijuana dispensary, paving the way for a lawsuit. Humble acknowledged that his refusal to even accept an application comes despite a voter-approved law requiring his agency to license about 125 dispensaries around the state. And it is directly contrary to the department's own rules that say the first requests would be considered Wednesday. But Humble said the Attorney General's Office, which provides legal advice for his agency, said all applicants should be turned away until a federal court rules on whether Arizona can enforce its voter-approved medical marijuana law despite federal statutes making possession of the drug a felony. [continues 913 words]
PHOENIX - Backers of medical marijuana charge that a federal lawsuit filed late Friday is designed let the governor and the attorney general do in court what they could not persuade voters to do: keep the use of the drug illegal in Arizona. Richard Keyt, an attorney who helps companies set up dispensaries, said the lawsuit is worded in a way to ensure the judge can reach only one conclusion: the federal Controlled Substances Act trumps the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act. And Keyt said states cannot change federal law. [continues 601 words]
PHOENIX - The top federal prosecutor in Arizona said Gov. Jan Brewer and Attorney General Tom Horne are distorting the facts on the issue of medical marijuana, and the risk of federal prosecution of state workers. Brewer and Horne announced earlier this week they will file suit, based on concerns about a letter from Dennis Burke, the U.S. attorney for Arizona, which they say suggests state employees who process permits under the voter-approved law could be charged with violating the federal Controlled Substances Act. [continues 443 words]
Saying she fears people could wind up in legal trouble, Gov. Jan Brewer on Tuesday ordered the state attorney general to get a federal court to rule whether Arizona can implement its medical marijuana law. Brewer said it was always known there was a conflict between the law, which lets Arizonans with a doctor's recommendation get a state-issued card letting them purchase and use marijuana, and the federal statutes which make possession, sale and transportation a felony. But she said a letter from Dennis Burke, the U.S. Attorney for Arizona, to her state health chief appeared to be a warning that anyone involved -- from patients and dispensary operators to landlords and even state health officials -- could wind up being prosecuted by his office. [continues 639 words]
PHOENIX - Saying she fears people could wind up in legal trouble, Gov. Jan Brewer on Tuesday ordered the state attorney general to get a federal court to rule on whether Arizona can implement its medical marijuana law. Brewer said it was always known there was a conflict between the law, which lets Arizonans with a doctor's recommendation get a state-issued card letting them buy and use marijuana, and the federal statutes that make possession, sale and transportation a felony. [continues 630 words]
PHOENIX -- The first Arizonan who got state permission to legally smoke marijuana is not some 22-year-old claiming he's in pain. It's a 60-year-old Scottsdale resident living with Crohn's Disease. That, coupled with other statistics from the first day Arizonans could get certified to buy, possess and use marijuana, pleases state Health Director Will Humble. He said if the patterns hold, it will prove that Arizona has successfully created a medical marijuana program as opposed to a recreational one. [continues 725 words]
PHOENIX -- Patients, doctors and dispensaries seeking legal help navigating the state's new medical marijuana law could find themselves up the creek without a lawyer. The ethics counsel for the State Bar of Arizona said it is a violation of the rules laid out by the Arizona Supreme Court for attorneys to help clients break the law. Patricia Sallen acknowledged that the new medical marijuana law permits individuals with a doctor's recommendation to obtain up to 2 1/2 ounces of marijuana every two weeks. And it also sets up procedures for the state to license nonprofit corporations to sell the drug. [continues 814 words]
Patients, doctors and dispensaries seeking legal help navigating the state's new medical marijuana law could find themselves up the creek without a lawyer. The ethics counsel for the State Bar of Arizona said it is a violation of the rules laid out by the Arizona Supreme Court for attorneys to help clients break the law. Patricia Sallen acknowledged that the new medical marijuana law permits individuals with a doctor's recommendation to obtain up to 2 1/2 ounces of marijuana every two weeks. And it also sets up procedures for the state to license nonprofit corporations to sell the drug. [continues 736 words]
PHOENIX - Arizona's new medical marijuana law may pose a dilemma for employers trying to ensure a safe workplace while respecting the new rights of those who will be able to legally inhale the drug. The law spells out that workers who have a state-issued card allowing them to possess and use marijuana cannot be fired or otherwise disciplined solely for testing positive on a drug test. Nothing in Proposition 203 permits an employee to use marijuana while on the job. And the law says that immunity from being discharged does not apply to a worker who is "impaired." [continues 700 words]
PHOENIX -- Arizona's new medical marijuana law is going to create new problems for employers trying to promote a safe workplace while respecting the new rights of those who will be able to legally inhale the drug. The law spells out that a worker who has one of those state-issued cards allowing them to possess and use marijuana cannot be fired or otherwise disciplined solely for testing positive on a drug test. Nothing in Proposition 203 permits an employee to imbibe while on the job. And the law says that immunity from being discharged does not apply to a worker who is "impaired." [continues 861 words]
State Health Director Will Humble answers questions about the new medical marijuana law. Q: When will patients who have a qualifying medical condition be able to get the necessary ID cards allowing them to possess marijuana? A: Probably in early April, after the state issues the rules that doctors have to follow, and sets up the tracking system. Q: When will they be able to buy marijuana from a state-regulated dispensary? A: That system won't be in place until next summer or fall. [continues 525 words]
Would-be patients hoping to get some medical marijuana now that voters have approved the law should not hold their breath. State Health Director Will Humble said Monday Proposition 203 gives his agency 120 days from the time the election results are certified - -- now set for Nov. 29 -- to come up with the rules and regulations of how the system will operate. Theoretically, he said, that should allow doctors to begin writing the legally required recommendations for patients in early April. But Humble said they may not have any place to purchase their drugs, at least not legally. [continues 794 words]
15 firms file papers with ACC to open if voters OK Prop. 203 PHOENIX - It isn't even legal yet. And it won't be unless voters approve. But more than a dozen companies are setting up shop in Arizona in hopes of getting into the business of selling marijuana. It's become a land rush of sorts. That's because the initiative, if passed, will permit 120 dispensaries in the entire state. Each one can grow an unlimited amount of marijuana on site and at one additional location, but cannot cultivate it within 500 feet of a school. [continues 567 words]
Says initiative based on flawed drug theories PHOENIX - Arizona's top health official says voters should reject a ballot measure that would allow doctors to recommend marijuana to their patients. There probably are some people who would benefit by being able to inhale the now-illegal substance, said Will Humble, director of the Arizona Department of Health Services. These include those who have nausea from chemotherapy and individuals who need an appetite stimulant to keep from wasting away. But Humble said health chiefs from other states with similar laws told him the vast majority of the "medical marijuana" cards they issued were for people with "severe and chronic pain." [continues 433 words]
PHOENIX -- Arizona's top health official says voters should reject a ballot measure that would allow doctors to recommend marijuana to their patients. Will Humble said there probably are some people who would benefit by being able to inhale the now-illegal substance. These include those who have nausea from chemotherapy and individuals who need an appetite stimulant to keep from wasting away. But Humble said health chiefs from other states with similar laws told him the vast majority of the "medical marijuana' cards they issued were for people with "severe and chronic pain.' Humble said that, at best, is subjective. [continues 711 words]
PHOENIX - It looks like Arizonans are going to get to decide whether they want to be able to use marijuana for medical reasons. Backers of a plan to let doctors provide written recommendations for marijuana turned in petitions Wednesday with what they said are about 252,000 signatures in support of the plan. That is nearly 100,000 more than need to be found valid to put the question on the November ballot. If approved, Arizona would become the 15th state in the nation with a medical marijuana law. [continues 713 words]
PHOENIX -- A Phoenix political consultant has launched a campaign designed to convince Arizonans not to allow medical marijuana in the state. Max Fose has formed a campaign committee called "Stop The Pot." Campaign finance reports show he is the only contributor to date, having put up $2,500. Fose did not return repeated phone calls asking him his interest in the issue or whether he is fronting for some other organization. But Web pages already erected by the committee appear designed both to alarm Arizonans about the effects of the ballot measure and undermine the credibility of the national Marijuana Policy Project, which is funding the Arizona initiative. [continues 503 words]
Would Provide Protections Against Getting Fired From Jobs PHOENIX - An initiative drive launched Thursday would give some people who are prescribed marijuana and test positive for the drug on the job the same legal anti-discrimination protections against getting fired as women and minorities. The measure, dubbed the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act, would allow doctors to essentially prescribe marijuana to patients who are suffering from any one of a specific set of conditions. It also would allow creation of a network of nonprofit shops that would sell marijuana to those who have those prescriptions and allow those not within 25 miles of a shop to grow their own. [continues 706 words]
The Arizona Supreme Court Agreed Tuesday To Decide Whether There Is A Religious Right To Possess Marijuana. Without comment, the justices granted to hear the arguments of Daniel Hardesty who contends the First Amendment protections of free exercise of religion entitle him to use marijuana as a "sacrament" of his church. Both a trial judge and the state Court of Appeals rejected those arguments. If the high court decides otherwise, it would be the first time in Arizona that judges have concluded there is a legal defense for those who use marijuana. [continues 311 words]
PHOENIX - The Arizona Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether there is a religious right to possess marijuana. Without comment, the justices granted to hear Daniel Hardesty's argument that the First Amendment protections of free exercise of religion entitle him to use marijuana as a "sacrament" of his church. Both a trial judge and the state Court of Appeals rejected those arguments. If the high court decides otherwise, it would be the first time in Arizona that judges have concluded there is a legal defense for those who use marijuana. [continues 306 words]
PHOENIX -- Attorney General Terry Goddard said Tuesday he might be willing to consider legalizing marijuana if a way can be found to control its distribution -- and figure out who has been smoking it. Goddard said marijuana sales make up 75 percent of the money that Mexican cartels use for the other operations, including smuggling other drugs and fighting the Army and police in that country. He said that makes fighting drug distribution here important to cut off that cash. He acknowledged those profits could be slashed if possession of marijuana were not a crime in Arizona. But Goddard said a number of other hurdles remain before that even becomes a possibility. [continues 613 words]
PHOENIX - Attorney General Terry Goddard said Tuesday he might be willing to consider legalizing marijuana if a way can be found to control its distribution - and figure out who has been smoking it. Goddard said marijuana sales make up 75 percent of the money that Mexican cartels use for the other operations, including smuggling other drugs and fighting the army and police in that country. He said that makes fighting drug distribution here important to cut off that cash. He acknowledged those profits could be slashed if possession of marijuana were not a crime in Arizona. But Goddard said a number of other hurdles remain before that even becomes a possibility. [continues 608 words]
PHOENIX - Attorney General Terry Goddard said Tuesday that he might be willing to consider legalizing marijuana if a way can be found to control its distribution - and figure out who has been smoking it. Goddard's comments came after a press conference Tuesday announcing the breakup of a major ring police said has been responsible for bringing about 400,000 pounds of marijuana across the border and into Arizona each year since 2003. The attorney general said marijuana sales make up 75 percent of the money Mexican cartels use for their other operations, including smuggling other drugs and fighting the Army and police in that country. [continues 505 words]
Attorney General Terry Goddard said Tuesday he might be willing to consider legalizing marijuana if a way can be found to control its distribution - and figure out who has been smoking it. Goddard said marijuana sales make up 75 percent of the money that Mexican cartels use for other operations, including smuggling other drugs and fighting the Mexican army and police. He said that makes fighting drug distribution here important to cut off that cash. He acknowledged those profits could be slashed if possession of marijuana were not a crime in Arizona. [continues 250 words]
The strip search of a 13-year-old Safford school girl to see if she had drugs was unjustified and excessive, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday. In a split decision, the full court overruled its own three-judge panel which had concluded that school officials had reasonable grounds to believe that the girl was violating either states laws or, at least school policies. Judge Kim Wardlaw, writing the ruling, said school officials "acted contrary to all reason and common sense as they trampled over her legitimate and substantial interests in privacy and security of her person." [continues 614 words]
Arizona voters may get a chance this year to do what they thought they were doing in 1996: allow people who are ill to possess and use marijuana legally. An initiative being crafted would spell out that individuals who are certified by their doctors as needing the drug would be able to possess small amounts -- the details are still being worked out -- without running afoul of state law. They also would be able to grow their own drugs. Backers, organized as the Arizona Medical Marijuana Policy Project, have until July 3 to get the 153,365 signatures necessary to put the measure on the November ballot. [continues 493 words]
PHOENIX -- Mexico's public safety director said Friday he will work with U.S. and Arizona officials to cut drug traffic and arrest human smugglers but not to keep people from emigrating to this country. Eduardo Medina-Mora Icaza said his government realizes the flow of illegal drugs from Mexico to the United States, as well as the business of ferrying people across the border, are binational problems. He said the criminals running those activities end up sending guns and money back to Mexico, where they wind up in the hands of criminal gangs. [continues 404 words]
PHOENIX -- The state's top cop said there's a good reason police time and money are spent raiding "pot" farms in national forests: It keeps the family vacation or picnic from being ruined by folks with assault rifles. "These are dangerous individuals," said Roger Vanderpool, director of the state Department of Public Safety. "They will do harm to people, they will do harm to law enforcement." Vanderpool's officers were involved in a multi-agency task force which raided a marijuana field earlier this week just north of Strawberry in the Coconino National Forest. [continues 407 words]
PHOENIX -- Injured workers can't be denied benefits even if they were high when they were hurt, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. In a unanimous decision, the high court voided a 6-year-old law that says employees who test positive for alcohol impairment or illegal drug use are ineligible for weekly benefits and having their medical bills paid after an on-the-job injury. Justice Michael Ryan, writing for the court, said the state constitution sets up workers' compensation as a no-fault system. That means if employees are injured on the job, they are entitled to certain medical benefits and payments for lost wages, no matter who is at fault. [continues 443 words]
Calling it an unwarranted intrusion on privacy, the Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday banned municipalities from random drug or alcohol testing of firefighters. The justices unanimously concluded that even firefighters have legitimate constitutional expectations of privacy. They said these outweigh arguments by attorneys for Mesa that there are compelling public interests to test firefighters, even without any suspicion that an individual was using or abusing substances. Tuesday's ruling would appear to affect more than just firefighters. The language of the decision suggests that virtually all public employees are entitled to similar protections. [continues 481 words]
PHOENIX -- Invoking the name of a dead college freshman, a Senate panel Wednesday voted to require mandatory prison terms for those who drink and leave the scene of an accident that injures or kills someone. SB 1135 specifies that if someone had any amount of alcohol or drugs in their system when they were involved in the crash and left the scene, then a judge would have to order them incarcerated and they would not be eligible for probation or early release. Sen. Slade Mead, R-Ahwatukee, said he introduced the bill in response to the 2001 death of Arizona State University student Jessica Woodin, struck and killed by a car while she was crossing the street in Tempe. [continues 450 words]
More than one in seven Valley eighth-graders has used marijuana in the past 30 days, a figure more than 40 percent higher than the national average. New statistics from the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission also show that close to 9 percent have smoked a cigarette in the last month, 3 percent have used chewing tobacco and a third have consumed alcohol. The figures are even higher for high school sophomores and seniors. Overall, more than half of eighth-graders statewide have tried alcohol, with that figure increasing to more than 80 percent by 12th grade. A quarter have tried marijuana by eighth grade, and half have used it by the time they become seniors. [continues 434 words]
The federal government cannot go after doctors who recommend marijuana to their patients, a federal appellate court ruled Tuesday. In a unanimous decision the three-judge panel upheld an injunction barring federal agencies from revoking the prescription-writing privileges of doctors who discuss marijuana use with their patients. Mary Schroeder, chief judge of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, said the injunction is necessary to block federal officials from interfering with the First Amendment rights of doctors to discuss all options with their patients. [continues 548 words]
PHOENIX - Disappearing signs are one of those facts of life during political campaigns. But a spate of thefts has gotten the attention of the Maricopa County Attorney's Office - and has spawned a hidden camera investigation. So far it has produced fuzzy video images of two people tearing down some signs and a few leads from their broadcast on TV but no arrests. Hundreds of signs have vanished, both in Maricopa and Pima counties. And the main targets of the sign thefts appear to be the campaign against Proposition 203 - the medical marijuana initiative - and the gubernatorial efforts of Democrat Janet Napolitano. [continues 304 words]
