New York Times Writes a Superficial Article on Arizona’s Medical Marijuana Law
Wow! What can I say. The New York Times has an article dated June 7, 2012, that reads like it was written by a high school newspaper reporter – short, fluffy, lacking substance and out of touch with reality. It does disclose for the first time that Will Humble had a fake Facebook page on medical marijuana. The article says:
“Will Humble, director of the Arizona Health Services Department, said his staff used a fake Facebook page to monitor the conversation about the state’s medical marijuana program, which is how they got to hear about loopholes they never knew existed.
For example, the state gives preference to people who have $150,000 or more in cash for each dispensary application they file; a bank statement would have sufficed as proof the money was there. But people suggested they would just transfer the money from one bank to another, then use the statements to support different applications.
The state went on to ask applicants to prove the money had been in the bank for at least 30 days, Mr. Humble said.”
I was at a public presentation last year given by Will Humble right after ADHS’ third and “final” draft of Arizona’s medical marijuana regulations were published. This was the version of the rules that contained the $150,000 capital requirement. A man asked Will Humble if it would be ok to put the money in the bank on Monday, get a letter from the bank and then take the money out of the bank on Tuesday. You should have seen the surprised look on Will’s face as he realized the carefully drafted rule had a door a mile wide in it. ADHS then quickly published a fourth and really final version of the rules that modified the capital requirement rule that applicants show they had at least $150,000 in the bank for at least 30 days.