Medical Marijuana

Allan Sobol, spokesman for the Arizona Association of Dispensary Professionals, says Arizona's state Health Director Will Humble has gone beyond what voters approved in imposing restrictions on when a doctor can write the necessary recommendation for a patient to buy up to 2 1/2 ounces of medical marijuana every two weeks.

Williams was caught by TSA with his medical marijuana pipe while going through a security checkpoint. He paid the citation of $484 and was released to resume his travel plans. Williams suffers from multiple sclerosis and is a prominent advocate for legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes.

Out of 320 requests from felons on supervision in Washington, seven people have gotten permission to use medical marijuana — a select group that includes a forger wasting away from AIDS and a white-haired grandmother named Kathy Parkins with fibromyalgia. A frustrated group of advocates, attorneys, physicians and patients says the state's Department of Corrections is ignoring the state medical marijuana law by substituting its judgment for that of doctors who recommend the drug. The policy, they say, is ripe for a legal challenge, although none has been filed.

A rising tide of Christians not only smoke pot, but think Jesus used it. They're gaining mainstream legitimacy, challenging religious and political dogma, and sometimes going to jail for their faith in unprecedented numbers. According to pot historian Chris Bennett's chapter on "Early/Ancient History" in Dr. Julie Holland's The Pot Book, Jesus didn't smoke pot, he rubbed it on people in the form of medicinal holy oil. Bennett says a pot doctor Jesus makes more sense than a deity Jesus. The Son of God does pull a lot of lightweight miracles like treating skin lesions, stomach problems, menstrual issues, eye problems, epilepsy and asthma, all of which respond to the cannabis therapies.

The economy is still tanking, but Oakland’s medical cannabis industry is banking. The city’s finance wizards are projecting that Oakland’s three dispensaries will sell between $35 million and $38 million worth in medical cannabis this year. The industry will bring in $1.5 million in taxes this year to the city.

The first draft of the rules that could govern medical marijuana use in Arizona are now online. The rules are laid out in a 47 page document on the Arizona Department of Health Services website. The rules cover everything from who can qualify to use medical marijuana, how dispensaries will be regulated and the role doctors need to play in the process.