The state played "pick the dispensary" Tuesday, awarding licenses to 97 medical-marijuana non-profit businesses statewide, including two in Scottsdale and one in Fountain Hills.
The Arizona Department of Health Services lottery picked operators for about three-quarters of 126 areas where one operator will be allowed to sell medical marijuana. Other areas had no applicants or were not considered because of legal challenges.
ADHS did not release a list of the winning operators in a bingo-style drawing, but the applicants were notified following the lottery picks. None of the potential Scottsdale dispensary operators with city-zoning approval returned calls on whether they had been selected.
Lance Norick, previously an applicant for the Kush Clinic dispensary in Scottsdale, said he withdrew from the application process about six months ago because there was too much red tape.
"We put a lot of work and money into it," Norick said. "It was just one thing after another."
The medical-marijuana issue has been clouded by legal wrangling between state and federal officials and confusion over dispensary zoning requirements since voters approved the measure in November 2010. The lottery drawing Tuesday did little to clear the air as dispensary operators face potential legal action from county, state and federal prosecutors.
Ryan Hurley, an attorney with the Rose Law Group, representing about 20 applicants statewide, said the state law does not allow ADHS to disclose the list of winning applicants, and his clients declined to comment.
The state health department selected Scottsdale resident Mark Steinmetz to receive the one state license for a medical-marijuana dispensary in Fountain Hills, said Bob Rodgers, Fountain Hills senior planner.
Steinmetz is affiliated with Compassion First AZ, a for-profit company, but his dispensary, as required by law, will be a non-profit entity.
Steinmetz submitted a zoning-verification application to Fountain Hills for a dispensary location at 17005 E. Colony Drive, Suite 103. Steinmetz could not be reached for comment.
Greg Bloemberg, a Scottsdale planner, said only five operators met city zoning requirements for a dispensary in the two Scottsdale areas designated for dispensaries.
The Monarch Wellness Center, 8729 E. Manzanita Drive, was the sole operator to meet city requirements for the south Scottsdale area, south of Doubletree Ranch Road.
The north Scottsdale area included four qualified applicants within the city, he said. That included:
Virtue Center, 7301 E. Evans Road.
M.M.R.X., 15475 N. Greenway-Hayden Loop, Suite C-22.
Giving Tree Wellness Center, 7655 E. Evans Road.
Valley Wellness Center, 7825 E. Redfield Road.
It is unclear those operators were selected in the lottery drawing. All are north of Doubletree Ranch Road.
The state drawing for the north Scottsdale dispensary included 12 applicants, however.
Carefree and Cave Creek town officials said they had no applications submitted for dispensaries.
Rodgers said he granted zoning verifications to eight applicants in the town. That did not match the seven that were in Tuesday's drawing because some decided not to pursue a license in Fountain Hills, however. A lawsuit aimed at nullifying Rodgers' zoning verifications was dismissed last week by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Katherine Cooper.
by Peter Corbett - Aug. 8, 2012 The Republic | azcentral.com
2 Scottsdale firms awarded first medical-pot licenses
