Labs, Doctors Scrutinized Over Routine Screenings Doctors frequently order patients to take urine drug tests to safeguard against prescription pain-pill abuse. But federal investigators and Medicare say these routine tests, designed to ensure patients properly use opioid drugs, have led to questionable billing practices by some for-profit labs, doctors and addiction-treatment centers. Millennium Health, the nation's largest lab and one that has conducted widespread testing in Arizona, agreed to pay $256 million to the federal government in October to settle claims that it conducted unnecessary testing. [continues 2104 words]
Cannabis can and should be grown and distributed in a way that is safe for both consumers and communities, but prohibition keeps that commonsense option out of reach. Patients looking for their medical marijuana should not have to resort to the back alley! Now with recent research on the plant they are able to breed new plants that give less of a high and more of a medical value, especially helping our veterans and young people needing the very low side effects of their medicine! States that have effectively regulated cannabis have already taken billions of dollars out of the hands of criminals and put them in the hands of taxpaying licensees! Steve Stockwell Chino Valley [end]
The State Is Failing to Meet the Requirement to Allow New Medical Conditions The Arizona Medical Marijuana Act has provided safe legal access to medical cannabis to sick Arizonans since the passage of Prop 203 in November 2010. The program is regulated by the Arizona Department of Health Services. New conditions can be added to the program during open application periods twice a year, but the rules surrounding the process and the specific standards by which these conditions are approved or denied are largely left to the AZDHS administration. AZDHS has fought hard against all the petitions filed in the history of the program. Only PTSD, with the help of the Arizona Cannabis Nurses Association has been successfully added as a qualifying condition. AZCNA Attorney Ken Sobel appealed the AZDHS denial of PTSD and prevailed.In a huge victory for patient rights, this was special because is it is the first mental health condition to be approved for treatment under the AMMA. [continues 398 words]
For Arizonans who have spent their lives and careers seeking positive outcomes for our children's health, education and welfare, E.J. Montini's Dec. 17 column, "Marijuana initiative slyly spreads like weed," must have come as quite a shock. In arguing for an initiative to legalize marijuana, Montini's source came from a pro-marijuana lobbyist: broadcasting several errors of fact and logic. The lobbyist stated that those opposed to legalizing marijuana use one tool, "fear." Indeed there is a great deal to fear from making a dangerous drug like marijuana more available, but that fear is actually based on scientific and medical fact. [continues 532 words]
Arizona Pot Prohibitionist Seth Leibsohn Says He Won't Really Debate in Favor of Legalization Avriette A right-wing Sedona group advertises what promises to be the throwdown of the year: A debate on the merits of marijuana legalization between staunch pot prohibitionist Sheila Polk on one side and fellow anti-marijuana activist Seth Leibsohn on the other. Yes, you read that right: The group says Leibsohn will take a pro-legalization stance in the debate. Leibsohn, a conservative AM-radio talk-show host, is the chair of Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy, a group formed to combat an adult-use legalization measure expected to be on the 2016 Arizona ballot. Yavapai County Attorney Polk is the group's vice chair. [continues 678 words]
Arizona is125,000 signatures closer to legalizing marijuana. It's going to happen. While the rest of us have concerned ourselves with presidential politics and terrorism (which sometimes seem indistinguishable) the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana like Alcohol in Arizona has quietly collected more than 125,000 initiative signatures, well on its way to getting the needed 150,000 valid signatures by July 7. "This is going even more quickly than we thought it would go," deputy campaign manager Carlos Alfaro told me. "We're looking forward to getting the signature process finished and get the campaign out there." [continues 413 words]
An Arizona State University student is asking an appeals court to overturn the law that makes it illegal for him to have physician-recommended medical marijuana in his dorm room. Andre Maestas, 20, an ASU junior and medical-marijuana cardholder, was arrested in 2014 and charged with a felony for having 0.6 grams of weed in his room on campus, roughly the equivalent of one joint. He is the first to challenge a 2012 statute banning medical marijuana on state university campuses, which the Legislature passed two years after Arizona voters approved a ballot initiative to legalize medical marijuana. [continues 1363 words]
As a retired police lieutenant, I can confidently say that Bill Montgomery fails to understand how civil forfeiture laws have played out in reality ( "Arizona won't seize your property unjustly"). Between 1997 and 2013, 87 percent of all assets seized were through civil forfeiture laws, meaning that nearly all instances occurred without requiring law enforcement to seek or obtain a conviction. Even the original architects of civil forfeiture laws said last year, "The program began with good intentions but now, having failed in both purpose and execution, it should be abolished." [continues 114 words]
Paul Avelar and Keith Diggs earn an "F" for grossly distorting Arizona's civil forfeiture laws with a self-serving, special interest "national report card." ("Arizona must end 'policing for profit,' " Our Turn, Thursday). Their critique conflates civil and criminal legal standards to make the preposterous claim that law enforcement can seize someone's property without due process and force a property owner to prove their innocence in order to get it back. If this were truly the case, courts would have struck down our forfeiture laws years ago. [continues 386 words]
The marijuana legalization movement in Arizona is relying on a specious study to make the case for recreational marijuana at the ballot next year. Their study says marijuana is 114 times safer than alcohol. Interestingly, it also says meth is ten times safer than alcohol, while heroin and cocaine are twice as safe. On that logic, why not make meth, heroin, and cocaine like alcohol, as well? Meanwhile, serious peer reviewed research regarding the effects of marijuana has been shown to increase high school drop outs, lower IQ, induce memory loss, and in some cases cause paranoia and psychosis especially among adolescents. [continues 404 words]
I disagree that legalization of recreational cannabis should wait until science provides a means to objectively measure cannabis impairment for driving (editorial, "Another unanswered question on pot"). Legalization and DUI enforcement are distinct issues. We have the problem of impaired drivers arising from use of various legal and illegal substances, whether or not recreational cannabis is legal. This public health and safety issue should be addressed through public awareness campaigns and enforcement, using the best evidence currently available. However, we have the disastrous societal effects of our futile efforts at prohibition only as long as we continue those efforts. [continues 87 words]
Now's the time to get involved in the cannabis social movement Many social movements have been taking hold in our nation recently. For example, same-sex marriage has moved from social acceptance to being fully legal. Cannabis law reform is a hot topic in politics and the media, as well as more and more states jumping onboard. Times are good, and there is much fulfilling work to be done on these and other humanitarian fronts. However, I am making a public call to action, asking for your participation in these movements. It isn't hard, there are events happening all the time. [continues 408 words]
How far down this rabbit hole does Arizona plan to go? Questions about driving while high on medical pot get curiouser and curiouser, even as some Arizonans push to legalize marijuana for recreational use. These are life-and-death questions because a stoned driver can be just as deadly as a drunken one. The men, women or children that stoner crashes into can wind up just as cold as the victims of drunk drivers. The difference is that we have set and measurable limits on how much alcohol a person can consume before he or she is considered legally too drunk to drive. [continues 467 words]
November is epilepsy awareness month and that is cause for celebration in the cannabis world because cannabis has been shown to be a safe, effective and far less toxic treatment option when compared to the usual allopathic anticonvulsants. This is accomplished through the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties found in the cannabinoids and terpenoids that are the major active components. These compounds help to turn down the music for many who suffer from epileptic conditions. With cannabis they are able to live fuller lives, without their development being interfered with by pills. [continues 477 words]
Five cartel lookouts huddled beneath thick desert brush one night last month. Suddenly, they realized they'd been spotted. The scouts, who are paid to study the movements of authorities and guide drug traffickers through the Arizona desert, dropped their heavy backpacks and bolted across rocky terrain near the quiet neighborhoods and golf courses south of Casa Grande. Using covert tactics, a border-crimes team stationed at a makeshift headquarters watched as the lookouts made their getaway. "They have night-vision capabilities and they're lightning fast," said Department of Public Safety Capt. Dave Nilson, who fielded constant radio traffic as he led the operation targeting traffickers in Vekol Valley. [continues 1878 words]
MMJ businesses to conduct business the normal way, except when it comes to keeping their cash in a bank Picture yourself as a humble small-business owner. You arrive at work one fine, crisp Tucson morning to a surprising letter from your bank. It says you have two weeks to get any and all the assets out of your account before they freeze it indefinitely. The rent on your office is due next week, and Friday is payday for your employees, and Tucson Electrical Power is wondering when they are going to get their check for last month's energy usage. The bank offers no explanation of why your account was closed. [continues 823 words]
With so much misinformation circulating regarding the legalization of pot use by advocacy groups, it was good to see some actual facts about the real harmful consequences of condoning the use of marijuana by adults and teenagers in Colorado. The myth that the black market would somehow disappear with legalization was quickly put to rest, as "legalization in Colorado has created a magnet for it as legality and availability drive sales and consumption." Now the entrenched drug cartels have to compete with local growers, leading only to increased violence and addiction. [continues 74 words]
I see the Seth Leibshon and Sheila Polk dog-and-pony show got more publicity. They never give the whole story, only those parts that will work for their stilted views. For instance, one of the big reasons Ohio voted against legalization of marijuana was the bill would have created a marijuana monopoly, allowing only 10 privately run marijuana farms in the entire state. Can you imagine the millions those would-be farmers stood to make? Of course, there would be some problems with children and teenagers, just as there are with alcohol, cigarettes and now the vapes. However, what is less than honest about these two zealots is they want you to believe these problems would be happening to every other kid. Not so. Check the facts. William Cochran Phoenix [end]
Sheila Polk and Seth Leibsohn attacked Colorado's legal, regulated marijuana program because they found evidence that there is still some black-market activity in that state ("Pot failed in Colorado. Why bring it here?"). No program, including the failed War on Drugs, will eliminate all black-market activity. Although hard liquor has been regulated for over 80 years, there are still people making moonshine, but they are now just a fraction of the number of criminals who produced oceans of booze during prohibition. The Colorado experience has been a positive windfall for their state and a pioneer for Arizona. - - Bob Fern, Show Low [end]
Sheila Polk, the Yavapai County attorney, is perhaps the most high-profile person standing against efforts to legalize marijuana in Arizona. Her organization, Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy, boasts support of dozens of municipal leaders across the state. But looming developments to our south and west could render pointless their crusade to stop Arizona going the way of Colorado, Oregon and Washington -- states that have already legalized recreational pot. Our two biggest neighbors - Mexico and California - are standing on the cusp of monumental change that could powerfully pull the state of Arizona in its wake. [continues 541 words]
Inside Arizona
