THE VOICE OF THE EAST VALLEY SINCE 1891 AND WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR LOCAL REPORTING
DUI arrests still dropping in East Valley
THE SUNDAY
Tribune
PAGE 8 Chandler/Tempe Edition
INSIDE
This Week
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SPORTS ....................... 17 Basha’s undefeated record is a good start, but team wants more
FAITH ......................... 20
Author’s message seeks to soothe year of unhappiness
PAGE 13 Sunday, January 8, 2017
ALS breakthrough gives patients new hope Gilbert sufferer knows discovery may elude him
NEWS .............................. 3 Streetcar project could take fans to proposed Coyotes arena
EAST VALLEY
Mesa business takes on big-boy online marketers
COVER STORY BY RALPH ZUBIATE Tribune Executive Editor
W
hen the Barrow Neurological Institute said in December that it had found new genetic clues to Lou Gehrig’s disease, also called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, it said the discovery would “pave the way for the development of new drug targets and therapies.” For Doug Clough, it’s likely too late to help. Clough, 54, of Gilbert, has had ALS for 2½ years now. He knows that any new discoveries won’t help him. “It probably won’t benefit me,” Clough said. “If I don’t get killed in an accident, I will die from ALS before any of the data could be used for me. “But I don’t care. I want it to benefit the ALS community as a whole. I know it will help give
people diagnosed in the future some hope. “For me, my hope is not here, but in Christ and Heaven.” ALS is a disease that robs people of control of their bodies. Slowly, patients lose the ability to walk, write, eat, talk and then breathe. The groundbreaking discovery involved IBM Watson, a famous, cutting-edge artificial intelligence program. It gave Barrow scientists new data that has unlocked some mysteries of the brain. “We are very excited about this discovery,” says Robert Bowser, director of the Gregory W. Fulton ALS Research Center at Barrow Neurological Institute and one of the nation’s leading ALS researchers. “ALS is one of the most complicated diseases to unravel. (Larry Mangino/Tribune Staff Photographer) We hope that the use of IBM “I would not trade the last 2½ years for the previous 52 for anything,” said See
ALS on page 2
Doug Clough, with his wife Karen. “My relationship with God is stronger, with Karen, the kids and my friends.”
Sales soar but uncertainty remains for medical marijuana DINING ....................... 21
Tapacubo brings eclectic Latino food to Tempe hotel COMMUNITY ..................9 BUSINESS ........................13 OPINION .........................15 SPORTS ............................ 17 FAITH ...............................19 CLASSIFIED .................... 25
BY MIKE BUTLER Tribune Staff Writer
E
ast Valley medical marijuana dispensaries are enjoying a phenomenal growth rate in sales, despite the failure of Proposition 205, but they are also prepping for an inevitable period of price declines, market consolidation and increased competition. “We have already seen price declines
and increased competition,” said Steve White, CEO of Harvest of Tempe. “Market consolidation is likely next.” Lilach Power, co-owner with Gina Berman of The Giving Tree Wellness Center in Mesa, agreed. “We have seen a number of licenses consolidating,” she said. “We have seen more dispensaries opening in Maricopa County— some are new licenses, some have moved from other areas of Arizona. But overall it’s a
market of small local operators.” The Giving Tree and Harvest comments come in reaction to a recent eye-opening report saying that medical cannabis sales in Arizona—on course to hit $367 million in 2016—will top $681 million by 2020. The study was conducted by Washington, D.C.based New Frontier Data, a big data cannabis analytics outfit, in partnership with publisher See
MARIJUANA on page 4