Arizona Health Director Will Humble has announced that he is stepping down March 3, and that he already notified Gov. Doug Ducey of his plans.

Earlier this year, Ducey said he wanted to keep Humble as head of the state Health Services, but Humble has decided to move on. He’d been worked for the agency since 1992 and has been director for six years. 

His reasons for leaving aren’t clear. According to The Associated Press, Humble said he “plans to catch his breath for a while,” but that he’ll probably be involved in public health some time in the future. 

During his time in office, Humble seemed to always be at the center of medical marijuana disputes. Last year, he was involved in two lawsuits—one led to forcing Humble to add post-traumatic stress disorder to the list of qualifying conditions in the state’s Medical Marijuana Act. 

Medical Marijuana folks, are you happy to see this guy leave?

This article appears in Feb 12-18, 2015.

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3 replies on “State Health Director Will Humble Leaving Office Next Month”

  1. Those who wanted a medical marijuana program in Arizona will be sorry to see him leave. Those who wanted a “medical” marijuana program will be happy to see him go … until he’s replaced by a true “just say no” zealot. Heaven help us if Governor Ducey relies on Carolyn Short, the Yavapai County Attorney (whose name escapes me), Maricopa County Attorney William Montgomery, and/or other on-record prohibitionists and Big Pharma shills for recommendations.

  2. Sheila Polk is the county attorney in Yavapai county. I think that Will was caught between patients and higher ups that encouraged him to do things that violated Arizona law. Middle management is a tough position to hold comfortably. If Doug Ducey is smart he will put someone there who believes in the medical marijuana program. This would placate medical marijuana patients who can be a rowdy group to mess with. Any of the individuals that you mention would bring lots of publicity. That would also put legalization and regulation in the spotlight. The more attention that is brought to bear on marijuana, the greater the chance of legalization and regulation in 2016. I do hope that he chooses carefully. I predict that he will put someone in that is relatively unknown. That would allow the governor more control over that position.

  3. Doubtful that Will Humble actually resigned. He probably was asked to leave and was given a “soft landing”. During his time as director, DHS was mismanaged beyond belief.
    FYI, Humble hated the medical marijuana law and did everything he could to delay implication of said law .

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