The Arizona Department of Health Services will hold a much-anticipated -- and highly controversial -- lottery on Tuesday to select medical-marijuana dispensaries.
State officials have decided to move forward with licensing the dispensaries, even as 13 county attorneys have urged Gov. Jan Brewer to halt the process and federal prosecutors have moved to shut down the nation's largest medical-marijuana dispensary in California. The Los Angeles City Council, meanwhile, ordered each of the city's 762 dispensaries to shut down.
Arizona health officials received 486 medical-marijuana dispensary applications from individuals or businesses that want to set up shop in 99 of the state's 126 designated dispensary areas.
The state received more than one application for 75 of the 99 areas, so health officials will randomly select those dispensary winners using a lottery-like device that blows numbered pingpong balls inside a clear cage. Most of the competitive districts are located throughout the state's urban areas.
Under state law, health officials cannot publicly identify the applicants by name or business name. Prior to the lottery, health officials will assign a number to each dispensary applicant's corresponding lottery ball.
Officials will provide a registration certificate as soon as an applicant's dispensary-agent cards are issued.
Winning applicants will have a little less than a year to build out their dispensaries and obtain proper licensing from the state and their cities or towns.
The Department of Health Services will air the lottery live via a webcast at www.livestream.com/azdhs.
Under Arizona's law, there is no limit to the amount of marijuana a dispensary can grow. Patients can obtain up to 21/2 ounces of medical marijuana every two weeks.
About 29,500 people have permission from the state health department to smoke, eat or otherwise ingest medical marijuana to ease their ailments.
Those patients had to submit medical records, authorization from a physician and other information to prove they had a history of medical conditions that could be treated with marijuana.
by Yvonne Wingett Sanchez - Aug. 4, 2012 The Republic | azcentral.com
Arizona medical marijuana shops awaiting lottery
