By Yvonne Wingett Sanchez
The Arizona Republic
Inside the suite of a nondescript industrial park in west Phoenix, an armed security guard in a bulletproof vest guards dozens of tents filled with lush plants that supply medical-marijuana patients throughout the state.
All day long, men and women with varying medical conditions swing through the doors of the cultivation center to tend their crops, allowing fresh air to seep into the office suite, which reeks of a musky, skunk-like odor. As hard-rock music blares, the growers measure nutrients, roll blunts (cigars), prune plants and prepare buds for drying.
When they need pointers on yielding the best harvest, they go to Bruce Barnes, a 32-year-old “master grower” who works for the center and specializes in growing highly potent marijuana that patients use to treat ailments ranging from cancer to chronic pain. Barnes helps patients and caregivers grow high-grade marijuana using sophisticated techniques to manipulate the plants with light, nutrients and air.
Arizona’s medical-marijuana era is still young, and Barnes is one of the few expert growers in the state who works for dispensary operators or cultivation sites that stock the drug for some of the 33,601 patients who are permitted to use it under state law.
While marijuana is illegal in most states and under federal law, it is still a plant and, like any successful farmer, Barnes can simply look at one and determine its variety and health condition.
If you’d like to discuss medical marijuana, contact Ryan Hurley, director of the Rose Law Group Medical Marijuana Dept., rhurley@roselawgroup.com
