PHOENIX - A judge will hear arguments Aug. 12 over whether Arizonans will be allowed to vote on whether they want to legalize marijuana for recreational use.

At a hearing Tuesday, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Jo Lynn Gentry gave backers of the initiative two weeks to respond to charges by foes that the wording of the measure is legally flawed and cannot be placed on the November ballot. Attorney Brett Johnson, who represents challengers, contends the proposal is basically a fraud on voters.

[continues 484 words]

An attorney defending from a court challenge an Arizona citizen's initiative that would legalize recreational marijuana is calling the attempt to keep the proposal off the ballot a "Hail Mary" effort by opponents of legal pot.

Attorney Kory Langhofer said Tuesday that the lawsuit filed by 13 individuals and groups including Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery and Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk is likely to fail because opponents are on thin legal ground.

"I'm very bullish on this lawsuit," Langhofer said. "The bottom line here is the opponents of this initiative have to make a Hail Mary pass to keep it off the ballot because voters are pretty likely to support this initiative if they ever get a chance to express that."

[continues 537 words]

Why must it always come down to money? It is obvious from much that has been printed regarding the legalization of marijuana in Arizona that the negative effects of pot far outweigh any benefits.

People can clamor that it will decrease crimes related to drug trafficking, etc. and perhaps that is so to a degree, but what about the effects its use will have on our teenagers and others? You can bet they will be using it in greater amounts than they do now with many untoward side effects.

[continues 123 words]

Same Rule Applies to Medical Marijuana Products As Well

According to a May report on the Today Show, there has been a spike in children going to the emergency room after consuming edible products containing marijuana, and the show noted that doctors and police alike want to raise awareness that children can be hurt by accidentally consuming such products.

This is a concern in any state that has legalized medical marijuana, including Arizona. Marijuana-infused food products, or edibles, provide an option to patients who can't or don't want to smoke their prescribed marijuana. Such products can come in a variety of shapes and sizes - brownies, cookies, candies, gummy candies and more.

[continues 254 words]

If insanity is repeatedly doing the same thing and expecting different results, no word better describes the legalization of marijuana for recreational use in Arizona.

Colorado and Washington, the first states to do this, have seen increases in teen use of marijuana, traffic fatalities, and emergency room visits (including of toddlers) - all tied to marijuana. In Denver, home of most of the pot shops, more than one in three 11th- and 12th-graders are now regular marijuana users, an increase of 20.5 percent from two years ago, according to the latest Colorado youth survey.

[continues 463 words]

In response to July 8th editorial in the Yuma Sun, about the panel finding major revenue potential in marijuana. "Slap in the face." Major concern with the legalization of marijuana in any format, medical or recreational, is that we are a border town.

We here in the Yuma area are very proud of our Border Patrol officers, and law enforcement officers.

They are on their toes when it comes to protecting us from illegal people trying to beat the system by, "jumping the wall."

[continues 148 words]

The usual suspects can't wait to subvert the people's right. Sheila Polk and her cohorts, including our own Maricopa County attorney, are going to court spending whose money to stop the will of the people. They claim the pro (legalized marijuana) ads are misleading when we haven't heard one true statement from any of them.

Fear, lies and no stats to back them up is all they have. They really are playing into the hands of the cartels. Ever wonder why the cartel doesn't smuggle beer and whiskey? They are on the wrong side of this issue and do a disservice to honest discussion.

Bill Acree - Phoenix

[end]

Parents of Medical Marijuana Patient, Caregiver in Prison Are Not Giving Up Until Their Son Is Free

Suson Catlin has been letters to the Governor's Office hoping someone out there will help get her 27-year-old son, Kyle, out of prison-where he's been since mid-January over nonviolent marijuana felony charges. Unsurprisingly, she hasn't received a response. But as I imagine most mothers would, Suson is willing to exhaust all options. Hope dies last.

The night of June 23, Suson got a phone call from Kyle, saying he had been charged with assault after another inmate in the Marana Community Correctional Facility jumped him and split his lip open. In response to the altercation, which Kyle repeatedly told his parents he didn't do anything but take the punches, Kyle was placed in "protective custody," also known as "the hole," or solitary confinement. The inmate who assaulted Kyle was placed in solitary first, so he and friends threatened to kill Kyle for being "a snitch."

[continues 556 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]

Rulings Say Police May Pursue Source of Odor

With a pair of opinions published Monday, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that police can still use the odor of marijuana as probable cause to search a car or a premises, despite medical-marijuana laws.

In both cases, one from Tucson and the other from Maricopa County, defendants tried to claim that since the passage of the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act (AMMA) in 2010, law-enforcement officers could no longer assume that a crime was committed based on the mere odor of marijuana.

[continues 538 words]

To get a job at Woodworkers Source, potential employees must pass a drug test.

There's a good reason for that, said Keith Stephens, owner of the Scottsdale-based lumber-supply business: "Many, many businesses, including mine, have a certain element of risk. In my case it's driving a forklift loaded with heavy material and being in the shop with chop saws," said Stephens, 72, of Paradise Valley.

If Arizona voters legalize marijuana for recreational use through a ballot measure poised to appear on the November ballot, Stephens worries it would become more difficult to find qualified workers.

[continues 1266 words]

Opponents of the campaign to legalize recreational marijuana in Arizona filed a lawsuit Monday, asking a judge to bar the initiative from the November ballot.

The lawsuit comes as elections officials are verifying whether the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol submitted enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot. The lawsuit was brought by 13 individuals and groups, including Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery, Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk, the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Republican Rep. Paul Boyer, a Tempe school board member and others.

[continues 225 words]

PHOENIX - Got marijuana? Not legally? Might want to keep the smell down.

A pair of new court rulings Monday allows the police to pursue a search of your place or your vehicle solely based on the odor.

Attorneys for both men who were convicted based on such searches argued that the 2010 voter-approved law which allows some people with certain medical conditions to legally possess or use marijuana means that the smell alone is no longer evidence that a crime is occurring. The fact that neither of them was a medical marijuana cardholder, the lawyers said, is irrelevant.

[continues 447 words]

PHOENIX - Foes of legalizing marijuana for recreational use in Arizona are trying to block voters from getting their say on the measure.

In a lawsuit filed Monday, challengers say the 38-page initiative is legally flawed, to the point where it would be illegal to put the question on the November ballot.

It specifically says the legally required initiative summary fails to tell those who signed the petitions all the different things that the measure, if approved, would do. And that, according to the lawsuit, means it is "so misleading voters as to cause a fraud on the electorate."

[continues 573 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]

Idea Is Controversial, but Could Help Solve State's Financial Woes

Could recreational marijuana solve the state of Arizona's revenue challenges?

A report by the staff of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee has found that if Arizona legalized recreational marijuana, Arizonans would buy nearly $500 million of pot a year by 2020. That in turn would generate nearly $82 million in taxes once the program is fully implemented, Capitol Media Services reports.

Of that, $27.8 million would go to general aid to education, with an identical amount available to help schools fund full-day kindergarten programs, Capitol Media Services reports.

[continues 304 words]

The campaign to legalize marijuana for recreational use submitted 258,582 signatures to secretary-of-state officials Thursday in an effort to qualify for Arizona's November ballot.

The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol needs 150,642 valid signatures from registered voters to qualify, and they have likely submitted enough signatures to account for any that may be thrown out. The measure almost certainly will make the ballot, and the proposal is pitting powerful business and social interests against legalization supporters, including medical-marijuana dispensaries and marijuana users.

[continues 419 words]

Levels of Impairment Not Defined

PHOENIX - The campaign to allow recreational use of marijuana is on amid questions of whether the measure would allow people to legally drive while under the influence of the drug.

Supporters on Thursday submitted what they said were petitions with 258,582 signatures seeking to change the law. That is more than 100,000 more than the secretary of state's office needs to declare valid to put the issue on the November ballot.

But amid the nearly 10,000-word proposal is language saying that individuals cannot be penalized solely because they test positive for not just marijuana metabolites that are left over weeks after using the drug, but the actual "components of marijuana." And that would include tetrahydrocannabinol ( THC), the psychoactive element of the drug.

[continues 580 words]

PHOENIX -- Arizonans would buy nearly $500 million worth of marijuana a year by 2020 if voters agree in November to allow its use here for recreational purposes, according to a new report.

The study by the staff of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee figures legalization would generate nearly $82 million in taxes when the program is fully implemented. That includes $74 million based on a tax rate of 15 percent of retail costs, with the balance coming from things like licensing dealers and growers.

[continues 556 words]

Keep Up With the Global and Local Medical Marijuana News

A new measure has been approved by the U.S. Senate Committee that would allow banking institutions to offer financial services to marijuana businesses. State-legalized marijuana businesses will soon be able to operate as a traditional business with a traditional banking system. Thus far, banking services have not been available to a majority of marijuana businesses due to marijuana's illegal federal status.

[continues 490 words]