Arizona recreational cannabis foe indicted in national opioid plot

The founder of a company that contributed $500,000 to help defeat recreational marijuana legalization in Arizona last year now faces fraud and racketeering charges from federal authorities who accuse him of pushing prescriptions of powerful painkillers.

In a new indictment, Kapoor and the other defendants are accused of offering bribes to doctors to write large numbers of prescriptions for the fentanyl-based pain medication that is meant only for cancer patients with severe pain.

Most of the people who received prescriptions did not have cancer.

U.S. prosecutors in Boston brought the case. Kapoor was arrested in Phoenix.

In addition to the criminal charges, Arizona and other states have been suing Insys over its marketing practices.

– Associated Press