Wednesday, November 11, 2020

Posted By on Wed, Nov 11, 2020 at 4:30 PM

click to enlarge Navajo hemp investigation expands to federal marijuana, labor probe
Marcella Baietto
Dineh Benally operated a network of hemp farms on the Navajo Nation, but tribal and federal officials are now investigating his Navajo Gold farms for allegations of marijuana production, drug trafficking, labor and child labor law violations.


WASHINGTON – A Navajo Nation probe of a controversial, Navajo-owned hemp operation has turned into a federal investigation into reports of marijuana production, interstate drug trafficking and violations of labor and child labor laws.

The FBI said Monday it had executed search warrants “in the area of Shiprock” in an operation that included nine federal agencies as well as state, tribal and local agencies from at least three states. It released few other details.

But the Navajo Nation Department of Justice said the search warrants targeted “suspected illegal marijuana farming” at the Navajo Gold hemp farming operation run by Dineh Benally, former president of the nation’s San Juan River Farm Board.

“Dineh Benally and his investors sought to take advantage of what they believed to be a jurisdictional gap on the Navajo Nation that would allow them to operate outside the law,” Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said in a statement Tuesday.

“They did not count on the diligence or effectiveness of the Navajo Nation Department of Justice to be able to enforce our own laws through our own courts,” Nez’s statement said.


Thursday, November 5, 2020

Posted By on Thu, Nov 5, 2020 at 11:59 AM

On Tuesday night, Arizonans joined four other states to pass some form of cannabis legalization, when citizens voted in favor of the Smart and Safe Arizona Act, Prop 207, which legalized the use of marijuana for persons over the age of 21.

Citizens of Arizona joined with voters in New Jersey, Montana and South Dakota to approve measures legalizing recreational marijuana, while Mississippi approved the use of medical marijuana for people with “debilitating conditions.”

Smart and Safe passed, with nearly 60 percent voting in favor. As of Thursday, Nov. 5, the measure was leading In Maricopa County by nearly 360,000 votes and in Pima County, it was leading by more than 120,000 votes.

“It appears the vast majority of Arizonans and Americans admit the War on Drugs has been a complete failure,” said Steve White, founder and CEO of Harvest Enterprises, Inc., which supported the measure with nearly $1.5 million in donations. “When you put a significant amount of time and money into the hands of other people, it’s scary. I’m thankful that 60 percent of Arizonans made the right choice.”

Once the final votes are certified, marijuana possession for persons over the age of 21 will be legal, although the rules regulating commercial retail likely won’t be in place before March and expungement of low-level marijuana-related convictions will begin in July. A 16 percent excise tax will be imposed the sale on recreational cannabis, which is expected to generate $250 million in annual revenues to be dispersed for programs including enforcement, school funding and administration of the program through the Arizona Department of Health Services.

AZDHS, or any successor agency to that department, will oversee the medical marijuana program and has been given the task of writing policy within the guidelines of the measure.

Under the new law, individuals can grow up to six plants for personal use, with severe penalties for anyone caught selling cannabis on the black market.

Municipalities will also have control over whether there are recreational retail shops within their jurisdictions, although they are not allowed to ban sales where a medical marijuana dispensary exists.

On Oct. 26, the Town of Sahuarita pre-emptively set restrictions in place, prohibiting cannabis on public property—which is already part of the law—prohibiting recreational retail sales with the exception of a “dual licensee” operating out of a shared location, as well as banning future testing facilities that are expected in response to a state testing mandate that started on Nov. 1, 2020.

Hana Meds is the sole dispensary in Sahuarita, so the restriction would allow that dispensary to open a recreational retail shop in the same location should it receive a dual license from the state in 2021.

Tuesday, October 13, 2020

Posted By on Tue, Oct 13, 2020 at 7:06 AM

click to enlarge Proposition 207 would legalize recreational marijuana for those 21 or older
Arizona voters approved medical marijuana in 2010. Six years later, they defeated Proposition 205, which would have legalized it for recreational use.


With the election just days away, Cronkite News is taking a closer look at some of the measures on the Nov. 3 ballot.

Four years after Arizona voters rejected legalizing recreational marijuana, the issue is back, appearing on November’s ballot as Proposition 207.

Eleven states have legalized recreational marijuana. Arizona joins three others – Montana, New Jersey and South Dakota – with the question on the Nov. 3 ballot.

The Marijuana Legalization Initiative, also known as the Smart and Safe Arizona Act, would legally allow people 21 and older to possess up to 1 ounce of marijuana, although smoking it in public places and open spaces would be prohibited. Arizonans would be allowed to grow up to six plants in their personal residences, and anyone arrested for, charged with or convicted of less serious marijuana-related offenses would be allowed to petition to have their criminal records expunged beginning July 21, 2021. Those offenses include possession of 2.5 ounces of marijuana or less and possessing paraphernalia used to smoke marijuana.

Monday, August 3, 2020

Posted By on Mon, Aug 3, 2020 at 10:30 AM

click to enlarge Cannabis, Lies and Foreign Cash: A Mother and Daughter’s Journey Through the Underground Mask Trade
Juanita Ramos, left, and her daughter, Dawn. (Montinique Monroe for the Texas Tribune/ProPublica)
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Click here to read their biggest stories as soon as they’re published.

In late April, as an escalating pandemic shut down most of the country and the federal government shelled out billions of dollars to untested contractors for protective masks, Juanita Ramos got a call from a friend in the marijuana business.

Her friend and some other ganjapreneurs were buzzing over a potentially huge payday. They had in their possession a $34.5 million purchase order from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. A contractor hired by the VA to provide 6 million N95 respirators to the nation’s largest hospital system had searched for weeks but found none of the potentially life-saving masks. So he had reached out far and wide for help, offering to cut in anyone who could help him finance, purchase and deliver masks by his deadline.

His PO, as it’s commonly called, had made its way to players in the cannabis industry, where deals are made quickly and often in cash. The friend asked Ramos: Did she want in on the action?

Wednesday, July 22, 2020

Posted By on Wed, Jul 22, 2020 at 1:17 PM

Opponents to the effort to legalize recreational marijuana in Arizona filed a legal challenge in Maricopa County Superior Court Tuesday in an attempt to stop the initiative from making the state's November ballot.

But rather than challenge the validity of the signatures, Arizonans for Health and Public Safety is taking issue with what they call misleading language in Smart and Safe Arizona's 100-word summary. Among other complaints, they say the group redefines marijuana because the initiative includes cannabis extracts along with marijuana flower. The opposition group believes marijuana extracts should be defined differently since they contain more THC than typical marijuana buds.

"Cannabis THC is highly concentrated," said Arizonans for Health and Public Safety chair Lisa James. "For example, five grams of marijuana concentrate that they allow is approximately 2,800 doses of pure THC for one person."

The group's lawsuit also challenges the Smart and Safe Arizona proposition essentially eliminates restrictions on weed-impaired drivers by not relying on marijuana metabolites tests to check if a person is impaired while driving.

"(Smart and Safe) eliminates all current marijuana DUI violations based on the percentage of marijuana impairing metabolites in the driver's system," James said. "That's no longer enough to convict for a DUI."

Critics of marijuana metabolite testing cite the test's unreliability to determine when the last time a person used marijuana since those metabolites can stay in a person's system for weeks or months.

Wednesday, July 1, 2020

Posted By on Wed, Jul 1, 2020 at 4:30 PM

click to enlarge Rec. Marijuana Initiative Files 420,000 Signatures to be Included on Nov. 3 Ballot
Eric Chalmers
Volunteers for the citizens initiative Smart and Safe Arizona drop of a symbolic 420,000 signatures
Smart and Safe Arizona, the citizens' initiative to legalize recreational marijuana, filed 420,000 signatures with the Arizona Secretary of State's Office on July 1 in an effort to secure its place on the upcoming Nov. 3 ballot.

However, Smart and Safe Arizona could still be challenged before making the November ballot.

"It's great to be done," said Senior Vice President of Strategies 360 Arizona Stacey Pearson, the PR firm handling the initiative. "I anticipate someone to challenge but given the size of our margin, they would not be successful."

The initiative collected 180,000 signatures more than the 237,467 signatures needed to qualify for the November ballot and filed them a day before the state's July 2 deadline.
Pearson said they wanted to collect and file the symbolic number of signatures because it was appropriate to the cause and to illustrate Arizona's desire to legalize recreational marijuana. 

"It seemed fitting," Pearson said. " We knew we were going to have over 420,000 signatures and the number seemed appropriate to file."

Friday, March 27, 2020

Posted By on Fri, Mar 27, 2020 at 1:00 PM

As with many businesses, dispensaries continue to adapt to daily societal change in the face of the COVID-19 virus. While non-essential businesses remain closed for the foreseeable future, dispensaries continue to maintain recommended measures to keep patients and staff safe.

Most dispensaries have adopted social-distancing policies to keep patients a safe distance from each other and sanitation methods such as N-95 masks, latex gloves and liberal use of hand-sanitizer and disinfectant.

Alex La
click to enlarge Cannabis Demand Is Up as Dispensaries Adapt to Coronavirus
Courtesy of wallpaperup.com
Smoke ’em if you got ’em.
ne, owner of Cave Creek Dispensary, said he has been on the frontlines at the dispensary every day, ensuring proper protocols for the safety of patients, employees and their families.

Lane said he took precautions to ensure his employees can weather the quarantine, providing a $400 bonus for food and supplies, temporarily increasing wages by $3 per hour and allowing employees to take time off as they feel they need it.

Most dispensaries saw a major increase in demand for cannabis during the third week of March, with some reaching record sales over previous years. Fewer than five have closed since Gov. Doug Ducey’s executive order limiting certain types of businesses.

Some dispensaries have discontinued daily deals and several patients have expressed concerns over price gouging. However, some dispensary owners have expressed concerns over the state’s supply of flower.


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Thursday, March 19, 2020

Posted By on Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 4:43 PM

click to enlarge Most Southern AZ Cannabis Dispensaries Remain Open, But With Some Changes
So far, you can still get your meds.

While many businesses in major metropolitan areas having closed their doors for the foreseeable future, medical cannabis patients don’t have to worry about most dispensaries closing, although Tucson Saints Dispensary announced today it will temporarily shut its doors.

Since cannabis is a medicine, it is an essential service and dispensaries will continue to sell products as usual, said Sam Richard, executive director for the Arizona Dispensaries Association.
But “everyone’s doing things a little differently,” he said.

Several dispensaries have posted notices on their websites detailing their response to COVID-19 emphasizing patient and employee safety and following Centers for Disease Control guidelines.
Common precautions include limiting the number of patients inside the dispensary, only allowing people in the waiting room and frequently wiping down surfaces. Dispensaries have encouraged employees who feel sick to use their paid time off.

Many dispensaries have also changed their hours, opening late, closing early or both.
Some, like TruMed in Phoenix, have transitioned to fulfilling online orders only, while other still allow to-go orders if patients know what they want. Downtown Dispensary in Tucson has installed special air filters to ensure a sterile environment.

However, many dispensaries have seen stocked items dwindle, especially regarding flower. But shortages are the result of the sudden purchasing shock, Richard said, and dispensaries should have their usual menu items available within a couple days.


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Thursday, February 27, 2020

Posted By on Thu, Feb 27, 2020 at 1:40 PM

With 4/20 on the horizon, it’s once again time to crown new winners in the Weekly’s sixth annual Cannabis Bowl! As in previous years, we are asking readers to let us know their favorite dispensaries, budtenders, concentrates, edibles and more.

Deadline to cast a ballot is midnight on Tuesday, March 24.

• You can only vote once—and we can catch multiple votes from the same IP address, so don’t bother trying. Stuff bowls, not ballots!

Cast your vote at now by clicking here to get to our ballot!

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Monday, September 23, 2019

Posted By on Mon, Sep 23, 2019 at 4:39 PM

The University of Arizona's first ever Cannabis Symposium will feature speakers from universities around the world discussing new cannabis education and research results on Wednesday, Sept. 25.

Raphael Gruener, a retired professor with 35 years of experience at the UA College of Medicine, organized the Cannabis Symposium to begin “a movement to make the scientific study of cannabis legal.”

He said strict enforcement by the federal government prevented research into the potential medical benefits of cannabis. He said he hopes state and federal governments continue to loosen laws to allow for in-depth research of the plant. 
"In the 1970s and '80s, the federal government classified cannabinoids as schedule one drugs," Gruener said. "It became impossible to study the cannabinoids in an evidence-based scientific method."

The Drug Enforcement Agency calls "Schedule 1" drugs substances that have "no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse."

Gruener said the speakers do not want to promote a positive or negative opinion of cannabis. Rather, he wants attendees to make informed decisions, not decisions based on hearsay.

"Attendees of the symposium will come away with new knowledge based on science as opposed to knowledge that comes from anecdotal information," Gruener said. "The measure of success is continued interest on the part of university researchers to begin to establish collaborations with other scientists."

Gruener said research shows how cannabis can help manage pain caused by epilepsy and other serious illnesses, as well as the side-effects of chemotherapy.

The presenters include Todd Vanderah, a pharmacology professor at the UA College of Medicine. Vanderah will discuss compounds in cannabinoids that "help people with pain and addiction" in his presentation, The Endocannabinoid System: The Biological Foundation of It All.

Yu-Fung Lin, associate professor of physiology at the University of California-Davis, will discuss the teaching methods and learning objectives of the cannabis courses she teaches in her presentation Teaching the Human Physiology of Cannabis and Cannabinoids.

Two international professors are also scheduled to speak: Richard Huntsman, a professor of neurology at the University of Saskatchewan, in Canada and David Meiri, a laboratory professor of cancer biology at the Technion Institute, in Israel.

The Inaugural Interdisciplinary Cannabis Symposium is sponsored by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the BIO5 Institute, the College of Medicine – Tucson, and the College of Science. The symposium begins 8:50 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 25 at the DuVal Auditorium, 1501 N. Campbell Ave. The event is free to attend and open to the public, but registrants must pre-register online. For more information, visit be.arizona.edu/iics

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