On the business side, recreational marijuana exposes employers to increased workplace accidents, more workers’ compensation claims and lower overall workplace productivity. We also can’t ignore the adverse effects marijuana has on adolescents’ developing brains, which has serious implications for the development of Arizona’s workforce talent pipeline. No credible economic development organization would tout marijuana legalization as a reason to locate in Arizona. Legalization sends the wrong message to the companies we want to grow and invest here. On the public health side, Arizona faces increased rates of addiction and the costs that come with drug treatment and rehabilitation.

Officials from the Guam Department of Public Health recently returned from Arizona and California, where they were able to gain exposure on how the mainland handles medicinal marijuana.

"When you start looking at people's needs, we'd like to get this going as soon as possible," explained James Gillan, director of Public Health. He notes efforts in moving forward with the implementation of medicinal marijuana on Guam, citing part of that effort being staff from the Division of Environmental Health get trained and learn from other states who have experience on the matter. "If you don't know really what things look like and how they work and you try to guess at it, or read about it, sometimes that works, but I think in this case you had to have hands-on," he continued.

A lot of high hopes are riding on the November 2016 general election in Arizona.

Paperwork for no less than six marijuana-related ballot measures has been filed with the state Secretary of State's Office in the last few months, each aiming to make fundamental changes to the state's drug laws.

Only two or three are actually viable, most likely. Each needs to gather about 150,000 signatures — a formidable and expensive task.

But if you come across petition-gatherers asking for your signature on any of them, here are the basics you need to know:

1) Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol

DOUGLAS, Ariz. –  Customs officials in the border town of Douglas arrested a 17-year-old boy after finding his bicycle's tires stuffed with more than three pounds of marijuana.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials say officers at the Douglas Port of Entry arrested the boy Saturday.

They say the Douglas boy was handed over to Homeland Security Investigations agents.

Officials say agents also made several large drug seizures at border crossings over the weekend.

Agents in Nogales found three pounds of heroin in a man's luggage on Saturday, and the next day arrested a 14-year-old Mexican girl who had two pounds of methamphetamine under her clothes.

Potlines is an app that will send users an alert as to differing state marijuana laws.

WASHINGTON, June 7, 2015 – Marijuana is already legal for medical and recreational use in the District of Columbia. Alaska, Oregon, Washington and Colorado also allow recreational use and possession of cannabis.

Twenty-three states from Maine to California allow medical marijuana use. But if you are taking a road trip from the NorthEastern shore to Southern California, there are a lot of states in between where marijuana is still illegal.

The laws are constantly changing and  the laws for use and possession in those states is not uniform.

And ignorance of the law is not a legal defense.

PHOENIX (KSAZ) -

Comedian Tommy Chong was in the valley Saturday, appearing at an event dedicated to promoting wellness through medical marijuana. 

The Arizona Cannabis for Wellness festival was held at the Encanto Green Cross dispensary in Phoenix near 27th Avenue and Encanto.

Chong, who is well known for his pot-themed "Cheech and Chong" comedy movies, introduced his brand of wellness marijuana.

PHOENIX — An independent poll released Wednesday shows a majority of Arizona residents support ending marijuana prohibition.

The Behavior Research Center’s latest Rocky Mountain Poll found 53% of Arizonans support making possession of a small amount of marijuana legal for personal use. Just 39% are opposed. Support outpaced opposition in all three of the geographical areas that were surveyed: 53-38 in Maricopa County; 47-43 in Pima County; and 58-38 in Rural Arizona. The survey of 701 Arizonans was conducted from April 29-May 15 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8%.

Sheila Polk, Yavapai County Attorney and the state's chief marijuana opponent, found her so-called facts about marijuana falling flat in a legalization discussion hosted by Arizona State University on Thursday.

The latest Rocky Mountain Poll shows slightly more than half of Arizona voters favor legalizing marijuana for recreational use, and 80 percent support its use for research.

It's a controversial drug that one local doctor says has been labeled "schedule one" for no reason. Marijuana has been deemed medically useless without any scientific evidence.

The latest Rocky Mountain Poll, released Wednesday, shows slightly more than half of Arizona voters favor legalizing marijuana for recreational use.

The same study show an 83 percent supports to allow Arizona's universities to conduct medical research on marijuana in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Arizona is one of the 23 states in the nation that has legalized medical marijuana use, but how far does that law go?

KTAR News 92.3 FM's legal analyst Monica Lindstrom spoke with Mac and Gaydos Thursday about whether or not the presence of a medical marijuana card should be used as a defense in court.

The Arizona Supreme Court recently announced they will review an appeals court decision that said drivers found with marijuana in their system can be prosecuted under the law -- even if they possess a medical marijuana card.

"I think that we're going to see the law change to allow (medical marijuana cards) to be (used as a DUI defense)," Lindstrom said. "I don't think it will happen anytime soon, but down the road we're going to see that."