We've come a long way from the War on Drugs, which pretty much degenerated into a War on People of Color in far too many jurisdictions. Medical or recreational marijuana is now legal in 36 states and Washington, D.C.
A full 60% of Arizona voters supported legalizing recreational cannabis just last November and when the shops opened to recreational customers earlier this year, people waited in line for hours to make a legal buy instead of having to visit some random dude.
While not everyone sees this as progress, it's certainly true that bad cops used weed as a chickenshit excuse to bust people—usually minorities or poor people—and locking folks up for smoking a plant that's definitely less harmful than alcohol on a whole bunch of levels. And now that edibles are easy to find, you don't even have to risk your lung's health to catch a buzz.
This week, we celebrate the stoner holiday 420 (aka April 20) with a special package of stories. We have the winners of our Cannabis Bowl, a reader poll of Tucson's favorite dispensaries, strains and products; a collection of product reviews to help guide you to some of the finer options on local dispensary shelves; a look at how the science of edibles is advancing through nanotech; a list of some of our favorite spots to sate our appetites for munchies when we're high; and a look at the Tucson City Council is addressing dispensary zoning issues and opening the door to more locations for future shops.
Elsewhere in the book: Staff reporter Chistina Duran finds out why local officials think Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus is a good fit overseeing Customs and Border Protection; Duran also looks at the latest on the battle against COVID-19; managing editor Austin Counts sinks into why the Tucson City Council is considering raising water rates for customers living in unincorporated Pima County; The Skinny looks at the farcical efforts to audit the 2020 presidential election in Maricopa County; columnist Tom Danehy has more questions about things; associate editor Jeff Gardner catches up with Tucson ambient musician Steve Roach, who has two new recordings out there for you to enjoy (especially after you've had a THC-enhanced brownie); and we've got a calendar of pandemic-safe fun, Tucson's best sex and horoscope columns, puzzles and so much more.
— Jim Nintzel
Executive Editor
Hear Nintz talk about the latest on the outbreak and other news at 8:30 Wednesday mornings on The Frank Show on KLPX, 91.1 FM.