It seems the grass-roots campaign to legalize weed in Arizona is more grass than roots. The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol has raised $2.2 million - nearly four times the $638,000 raised by opponents. The vast majority of that was put up by either the national pot lobby or medical-marijuana dispensaries, which stand to corner the lucrative market should voters legalize recreational marijuana. Yet just last month, the campaign chairman talked of its "broad coalition of contributors." [continues 397 words]
Opponents of legalizing the recreational use of marijuana in Arizona have filed a lawsuit, hoping to keep the proposal off the November ballot. Put another way, opponents of legalizing weed don't trust Arizona voters to do the right thing. So their play is to run to court to make sure you never get that chance. Whether you support legalizing marijuana or not, consider yourself slapped smack in the face. In Arizona, we have a constitutional right to make laws by voter initiative. Or, to veto laws by referendum as is being attempted now in an effort to stop our leaders from opening the floodgates to even more dark money in this state. The people who founded this state made sure of it. [continues 355 words]
I Oppose the Proposal to Legalize Marijuana in Arizona and Suddenly I'm An Advocate for Tossing Potheads in Prison. WHO Knew? "Laurie Roberts Believes That Arresting 12,000 Marijuana Users in Arizona Every Year Somehow Stops Kids From Getting It," Writes Peter B. Wilson of Phoenix, in a Letter Published Thursday About My Recent Column on the Proposition That'll Be on the November Ballot. Actually, Laurie Roberts Believes That Arresting People for Using Marijuana Is a Waste of Time and Resources. [continues 421 words]
It starts the minute he wakes up and puts his feet on the floor. The nausea quickly builds from the base of his stomach to the back of his throat, and he tries to think mind over matter, but matter generally wins. And this is just the beginning of the day. The really hard time, he would tell you, comes later in the afternoon, when he must force down the pills he needs to stay alive and hope they stay down. Food? The thought of it makes him gag, and this goes on day after week after year. His parents wonder whether he can survive it. So far, in well over a decade, Bennett Black has found only one thing that eases the nausea enough so that he can eat, so that he can live. [continues 1349 words]
I was all set to go along with the charade. All the talk of "patients," of "caregivers" and "medicine." But the picture of the teenager holding his skateboard as he came out of Arizona's first medical-marijuana dispensary ... Oh, come on. Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery didn't see the photo in Friday's newspaper, but he says it's an accurate reflection of Arizona's medical-marijuana program. "There's not a single state with a medical-marijuana act or anything similar that hasn't turned into a recreational-use program," he said. [continues 673 words]
Attention all tokers: This is your week, that hallowed time when you can march to the Arizona Department of Health Services and offer up all manner of explanation for why a bit of weed would ease your considerable suffering. Already we have two petitions in, hoping to add six new ailments to the list of debilitating diseases and conditions that would allow you to legally (under state law, anyway) smoke marijuana for medicinal purposes. Medical marijuana eked its way into Arizona in 2010, winning a whopping 50.13 percent of the vote. The law allows anyone with a doctor's recommendation to obtain a state-issued card entitling them to 2 1/2 ounces of pot every two weeks. [continues 596 words]
Attention all tokers: This is your week, that hallowed time when you can march to the Arizona Department of Health Services and offer up all manner of explanation for why a bit of weed would ease your considerable suffering. Already we have two petitions in, hoping to add six new ailments to the list of debilitating diseases and conditions that would allow you to legally (under state law, anyway) smoke marijuana for medicinal purposes. Medical marijuana eked its way into Arizona in 2010, winning a whopping 50.13 percent of the vote. The law allows anyone with a doctor's recommendation to obtain a state-issued card, entitling them to 2.5 ounces of pot every two weeks. [continues 618 words]
Enrollment In Scottsdale's High Schools Will Be Up By One Come August. Blaze, the Police Department's drug-sniffing black Lab, will be on the hunt along with a few of his fellow K-9s, nose to the grindstone. Or, at least to the lockers in four of the district's five high schools. That's right. The Scottsdale School Board voted 4-1 Tuesday to send in the dogs. Now, I don't have anything in particular against the idea, if we really want to start sliding down that slippery slope and begin the process of transforming our schools into a police state. But may I suggest that we leave Blaze to his other duties and instead send in another dog? One more suited to the important task of carrying Sheriff Joe Arpaio's flag. One more disposed by training and bloodlines to get in there and root out the heroin, cocaine and various other drugs the sheriff says are fairly oozing out of the schools. [continues 691 words]
