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
Showing posts with label pot permits. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pot permits. Show all posts
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Big day for medical pot - USATODAY.com
You can't really tell what's going on in the nondescript, tan stucco home in a booming Maricopa neighborhood until you walk inside, down the carpeted hallway, to the room with the warm yellow light glowing under the door.
"You don't really smell it until the door is opened," said Scott, 30, unlocking the door with a set of keys he always keeps with him. "And then, it hits you."
The bedroom shelters a full-scale legal medical-marijuana farm, with 5-foot-tall plants sprouting crystallized buds, and other plants at varying degrees of growth. A custom ventilation system cools the room. A humidifier keeps it moist; a hydroponic system pumps nutrients into plant roots; and professionally wired high-powered grow lamps are rigged to a timer.
Scott is one of more than 25,000 patients and caregivers who were allowed to grow medical marijuana beginning in 2010 while state officials fought the law and then figured out how to implement a plan for statewide dispensaries.
Today, however, will be the beginning of the end for many as the state Department of Health Services grants permission for 99 medical-marijuana dispensaries to open around the state.
Authors of the state's medical-marijuana law intended to limit urban growing by forcing people to buy at dispensaries, so after today, legal growers within 25miles of a dispensary must begin shutting down their operations except under limited circumstances.
The state will allow current cardholders to grow marijuana until they apply for their annual renewal. Over time, the law is expected to virtually eliminate all growers in the state's urban areas who are not associated with dispensaries.
Growers such as Scott and his girlfriend, Jody, 44, who declined to give their last names for safety reasons, believe the rule unfairly -- and illegally -- forces them to buy medical marijuana at a limited number of dispensaries.
"It will really be devastating to the community, to patients and caregivers," Scott said.
And, Scott believes, it will be financially devastating for him and Jody, who smoke marijuana throughout the day to ease chronic pain caused by vehicle and other accidents. He and Jody socked away his earnings as an iron worker, a Christmas bonus and tax returns to build their own grow room at a cost of about $5,000. Even though the room has doubled their utility bill to about $450 a month, they say it's still cheaper than buying marijuana at a dispensary.
They also worry that dispensary-grown marijuana could contain pesticides that could harm them.
"It's like groceries -- it's in the same genre," Jody said. "If you're able to grow your own tomatoes … and green beans, do it. With this 25-mile rule, they're basically saying don't grow your tomatoes, you have to go to the store. In this economy, it's going to make it impossible for many people to get their medication."
Law's requirements
Voters in 2010 passed the measure to allow people with certain debilitating medical conditions, including chronic pain, cancer and muscle spasms, to use medical marijuana.
They must register with the state, which issues identification cards to qualified patients and caregivers. Caregivers can grow 12 plants for up to five patients.
Some caregivers can continue growing once the 25-mile rule takes effect, but only if their designated patients live 25miles or more from a dispensary.
The state has given about 29,500 people permission to use medical marijuana; it has given about 85percent of those patients permission to grow their own until the 25-mile rule takes effect.
Under the law, state health officials can license up to 126 dispensaries throughout designated areas statewide. Health officials received 486 dispensary applications from individuals or businesses that want to set up shop in 99 of the 126 areas.
The state will select the winning applicants today by lottery.
There is no limit to how much marijuana a dispensary can grow. Patients can obtain up to 2½ ounces of medical marijuana every two weeks.
ADHS Director Will Humble expects some dispensaries could be operating as early as September.
Medical-marijuana advocates are criticizing Humble's decision to interpret the 25-mile rule "as the crow flies" rather than measuring mileage on a grid.
Lisa Hauser, an attorney who helped draft the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act, and Andrew Meyers, campaign manager for the organization that got the program on the ballot, said Humble is accurately interpreting the intent of the 25-mile rule.
Hauser and Meyers said the law was designed to limit urban marijuana cultivation as a way to address law enforcement's concerns of home invasions and fire risks caused by dangerous wiring for lamps and other growing equipment.
Both expected the dispensaries to be operating shortly after the voters passed the law. Instead, the dispensaries were delayed after Gov. Jan Brewer in May 2011 asked a federal judge to determine whether the state law conflicted with federal drug statutes.
Eight months later, a judge dismissed the state's lawsuit.
The decision cleared the way for state health officials to begin the process of licensing medical-marijuana dispensaries.
Meyers pointed out that the campaign urged people to work through caregivers rather than investing thousands of dollars on outfitting grow spaces in spare bedrooms and garages that would have to be shut down when the dispensaries opened.
"Having individuals grow their own or set up their own little unsecured farming operations is a tad risky," Hauser said. "But also, it was not to be the default method of obtaining medicine -- it was to be grow-your-own only in these limited circumstances."
A spokesman for Phoenix Police Department said it will investigate and enforce the law if home growers illegally grow marijuana once dispensaries are running.
Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk, who has urged Brewer to halt licensing of dispensaries because marijuana is illegal under federal law, also said her agency will prosecute those who don't comply with the 25-mile rule.
"They would be committing a felony," she said. "And it will be treated like any other drug investigation."
Polk and 12 of the state's 15 county attorneys are fighting the marijuana law and sought a legal opinion from Attorney General Tom Horne as to whether the state law is pre-empted by federal law.
Horne on Monday issued an opinion that the law's provisions "authorizing any cultivating, selling and dispensing of marijuana" are pre-empted but that issuing registry cards to patients and caregivers is not. He advised the ADHS that it could go forward with the lottery, saying that a dispensary-registration certificate does not give authorization and that applicants still must go through additional processes.
But he suggested dispensary-lottery winners consider delaying work or investment in a dispensary until the courts weigh in.
Requirement impacts
Caterer Ellen Bridgewater, 52, began growing marijuana at Compassion First Caregivers Circle Inc., a warehouse-size cultivation center in north Phoenix.
The Scottsdale resident and her husband grow for five patients who have cancer, arthritis and Crohn's disease.
Bridgewater obtained patient and grow cards several months ago to help treat Crohn's disease, a form of inflammatory bowl disease. She tends to the plants, plays jazz to help them grow and regularly meets with patients to give them their medicine.
Bridgewater applied to run a dispensary, saying she wants to continue to provide medical marijuana at a low cost.
"I'm very apprehensive about the rule," she said. "You want people to have easy access to their medicine, and 25miles is a long way for some people to go."
In anticipation of dispensaries opening, businesses that cater to medical- marijuana growers like weGrow in west Phoenix are shifting their business models away from home growers to focus on dispensaries.
The hydroponics superstore targeted much of its outreach to individuals, store owner Sunny Singh said.
The store sells lamps, nutrients, growing advice and other marijuana-related products.
Singh said many of his customers are asking questions about the 25-mile rule and are concerned dispensary-grown marijuana will be too expensive.
"They don't want to spend top money for medicine if they don't know what the quality is," he said. "If they're growing at home, they don't have a quality issue."
By Yvonne Wingett Sanchez The Republic|azcentral.com Aug 7, 2012
Big day for medical pot - USATODAY.com
"You don't really smell it until the door is opened," said Scott, 30, unlocking the door with a set of keys he always keeps with him. "And then, it hits you."
The bedroom shelters a full-scale legal medical-marijuana farm, with 5-foot-tall plants sprouting crystallized buds, and other plants at varying degrees of growth. A custom ventilation system cools the room. A humidifier keeps it moist; a hydroponic system pumps nutrients into plant roots; and professionally wired high-powered grow lamps are rigged to a timer.
Scott is one of more than 25,000 patients and caregivers who were allowed to grow medical marijuana beginning in 2010 while state officials fought the law and then figured out how to implement a plan for statewide dispensaries.
Today, however, will be the beginning of the end for many as the state Department of Health Services grants permission for 99 medical-marijuana dispensaries to open around the state.
Authors of the state's medical-marijuana law intended to limit urban growing by forcing people to buy at dispensaries, so after today, legal growers within 25miles of a dispensary must begin shutting down their operations except under limited circumstances.
The state will allow current cardholders to grow marijuana until they apply for their annual renewal. Over time, the law is expected to virtually eliminate all growers in the state's urban areas who are not associated with dispensaries.
Growers such as Scott and his girlfriend, Jody, 44, who declined to give their last names for safety reasons, believe the rule unfairly -- and illegally -- forces them to buy medical marijuana at a limited number of dispensaries.
"It will really be devastating to the community, to patients and caregivers," Scott said.
And, Scott believes, it will be financially devastating for him and Jody, who smoke marijuana throughout the day to ease chronic pain caused by vehicle and other accidents. He and Jody socked away his earnings as an iron worker, a Christmas bonus and tax returns to build their own grow room at a cost of about $5,000. Even though the room has doubled their utility bill to about $450 a month, they say it's still cheaper than buying marijuana at a dispensary.
They also worry that dispensary-grown marijuana could contain pesticides that could harm them.
"It's like groceries -- it's in the same genre," Jody said. "If you're able to grow your own tomatoes … and green beans, do it. With this 25-mile rule, they're basically saying don't grow your tomatoes, you have to go to the store. In this economy, it's going to make it impossible for many people to get their medication."
Law's requirements
Voters in 2010 passed the measure to allow people with certain debilitating medical conditions, including chronic pain, cancer and muscle spasms, to use medical marijuana.
They must register with the state, which issues identification cards to qualified patients and caregivers. Caregivers can grow 12 plants for up to five patients.
Some caregivers can continue growing once the 25-mile rule takes effect, but only if their designated patients live 25miles or more from a dispensary.
The state has given about 29,500 people permission to use medical marijuana; it has given about 85percent of those patients permission to grow their own until the 25-mile rule takes effect.
Under the law, state health officials can license up to 126 dispensaries throughout designated areas statewide. Health officials received 486 dispensary applications from individuals or businesses that want to set up shop in 99 of the 126 areas.
The state will select the winning applicants today by lottery.
There is no limit to how much marijuana a dispensary can grow. Patients can obtain up to 2½ ounces of medical marijuana every two weeks.
ADHS Director Will Humble expects some dispensaries could be operating as early as September.
Medical-marijuana advocates are criticizing Humble's decision to interpret the 25-mile rule "as the crow flies" rather than measuring mileage on a grid.
Lisa Hauser, an attorney who helped draft the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act, and Andrew Meyers, campaign manager for the organization that got the program on the ballot, said Humble is accurately interpreting the intent of the 25-mile rule.
Hauser and Meyers said the law was designed to limit urban marijuana cultivation as a way to address law enforcement's concerns of home invasions and fire risks caused by dangerous wiring for lamps and other growing equipment.
Both expected the dispensaries to be operating shortly after the voters passed the law. Instead, the dispensaries were delayed after Gov. Jan Brewer in May 2011 asked a federal judge to determine whether the state law conflicted with federal drug statutes.
Eight months later, a judge dismissed the state's lawsuit.
The decision cleared the way for state health officials to begin the process of licensing medical-marijuana dispensaries.
Meyers pointed out that the campaign urged people to work through caregivers rather than investing thousands of dollars on outfitting grow spaces in spare bedrooms and garages that would have to be shut down when the dispensaries opened.
"Having individuals grow their own or set up their own little unsecured farming operations is a tad risky," Hauser said. "But also, it was not to be the default method of obtaining medicine -- it was to be grow-your-own only in these limited circumstances."
A spokesman for Phoenix Police Department said it will investigate and enforce the law if home growers illegally grow marijuana once dispensaries are running.
Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk, who has urged Brewer to halt licensing of dispensaries because marijuana is illegal under federal law, also said her agency will prosecute those who don't comply with the 25-mile rule.
"They would be committing a felony," she said. "And it will be treated like any other drug investigation."
Polk and 12 of the state's 15 county attorneys are fighting the marijuana law and sought a legal opinion from Attorney General Tom Horne as to whether the state law is pre-empted by federal law.
Horne on Monday issued an opinion that the law's provisions "authorizing any cultivating, selling and dispensing of marijuana" are pre-empted but that issuing registry cards to patients and caregivers is not. He advised the ADHS that it could go forward with the lottery, saying that a dispensary-registration certificate does not give authorization and that applicants still must go through additional processes.
But he suggested dispensary-lottery winners consider delaying work or investment in a dispensary until the courts weigh in.
Requirement impacts
Caterer Ellen Bridgewater, 52, began growing marijuana at Compassion First Caregivers Circle Inc., a warehouse-size cultivation center in north Phoenix.
The Scottsdale resident and her husband grow for five patients who have cancer, arthritis and Crohn's disease.
Bridgewater obtained patient and grow cards several months ago to help treat Crohn's disease, a form of inflammatory bowl disease. She tends to the plants, plays jazz to help them grow and regularly meets with patients to give them their medicine.
Bridgewater applied to run a dispensary, saying she wants to continue to provide medical marijuana at a low cost.
"I'm very apprehensive about the rule," she said. "You want people to have easy access to their medicine, and 25miles is a long way for some people to go."
In anticipation of dispensaries opening, businesses that cater to medical- marijuana growers like weGrow in west Phoenix are shifting their business models away from home growers to focus on dispensaries.
The hydroponics superstore targeted much of its outreach to individuals, store owner Sunny Singh said.
The store sells lamps, nutrients, growing advice and other marijuana-related products.
Singh said many of his customers are asking questions about the 25-mile rule and are concerned dispensary-grown marijuana will be too expensive.
"They don't want to spend top money for medicine if they don't know what the quality is," he said. "If they're growing at home, they don't have a quality issue."
By Yvonne Wingett Sanchez The Republic|azcentral.com Aug 7, 2012
Big day for medical pot - USATODAY.com
Arizona medical marijuana shops awaiting lottery
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
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
Monday, July 2, 2012
Permit for pot blocked, suit says - USATODAY.com
An applicant for a medical-marijuana dispensary and cultivation site has sued Maricopa County, accusing the county of purposely stalling action on its application to prevent it from seeking a state operating license.
The lawsuit by White Mountain Health Center Inc. alleges the county would not certify or reject its registration certificate, one of the Arizona Department of Health Services' first requirements for obtaining a dispensary license.
The White Mountain Health Center wants to open a dispensary and cultivation site in Sun City, which is in an unincorporated part of the county and therefore requires county zoning approval.
Maricopa County last year decided not to allow county employees to accept, process or issue permits for medical-marijuana dispensaries or cultivation sites on county unincorporated land unless marijuana becomes a federally-approved drug.
However, the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act, which voters approved in November 2010, allows qualifying patients with certain debilitating medical conditions to use marijuana. It allows local jurisdictions to impose "reasonable" zoning restrictions for dispensaries, and requires local zoning approval before a permit is processed by the state.
The county Board of Supervisors nonetheless opted out of the program after County Attorney Bill Montgomery, named as defendant in the lawsuit, advised the board not to participate in the medical-marijuana program. He said county employees may be subject to federal backlash, and it may make them accomplices in committing a federal offense because marijuana is not an approved drug under the federal Controlled Substances Act.
That is why no county employee has acted on dispensary applications, Montgomery said: To avoid "having to argue the fine details of whether even a denial" of a permit application could be considered a violation of federal law.
In its lawsuit, White Mountain Health Center claims the DHS rejected its application for a registration certificate because the center could not obtain documentation from Maricopa County or from Montgomery showing there are no zoning restrictions that prevent a dispensary from opening in Sun City. DHS and its director, Will Humble, are also named as defendants.
In a letter to Jeffrey Kaufman, attorney for the health center, Montgomery explained the county will not issue zoning verification for medical-marijuana dispensaries "until the threat of federal prosecution is conclusively removed."
After applicants receive their registration certificate from DHS, they must get approval from their local jurisdiction to operate. Cities and towns across the Valley have different requirements for potential dispensary or cultivation-site owners.
A dispensary applicant must meet local zoning requirements.
If a local government rejects the application, the case would need to be handled in the courts, Humble said.
"Each jurisdiction handles it a little differently," Humble said. "Some, you just march into the office and they sign it. Others ask for some more information."
Ken Strobeck, executive director of the League of Arizona Cities and Towns, said he was not aware of any city or town in the state that has disallowed medical-marijuana dispensaries or cultivation sites, as Maricopa County has.
Based on his analysis, Montgomery said, other local jurisdictions that allow medical-marijuana dispensaries should be subject to federal prosecution.
"You can't enforce the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act," Montgomery said. "I don't care if it passed with 90 percent of the vote. Voters are no more entitled to pass something that's unconstitutional than the Legislature, and that's just a legal fact. If it's against the law, you can't enforce it … The medical-marijuana act is not even protected by the Voter Protection Act because it can't protect something that's unlawful."
Kaufman said the White Mountain Health Center is the only applicant for a medical-marijuana dispensary in Sun City.
"Obviously there are a lot of people in Sun City with serious medical conditions that we believe would benefit from medical marijuana," Kaufman said. "The voters in the state have approved medical marijuana, and I think it would be very unfair for the people of Sun City to travel outside of Sun City to go and get medical marijuana."
By Michelle Ye Hee Lee, The Republic|azcentral.com Jun 26, 2012
Permit for pot blocked, suit says - USATODAY.com
The lawsuit by White Mountain Health Center Inc. alleges the county would not certify or reject its registration certificate, one of the Arizona Department of Health Services' first requirements for obtaining a dispensary license.
The White Mountain Health Center wants to open a dispensary and cultivation site in Sun City, which is in an unincorporated part of the county and therefore requires county zoning approval.
Maricopa County last year decided not to allow county employees to accept, process or issue permits for medical-marijuana dispensaries or cultivation sites on county unincorporated land unless marijuana becomes a federally-approved drug.
However, the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act, which voters approved in November 2010, allows qualifying patients with certain debilitating medical conditions to use marijuana. It allows local jurisdictions to impose "reasonable" zoning restrictions for dispensaries, and requires local zoning approval before a permit is processed by the state.
The county Board of Supervisors nonetheless opted out of the program after County Attorney Bill Montgomery, named as defendant in the lawsuit, advised the board not to participate in the medical-marijuana program. He said county employees may be subject to federal backlash, and it may make them accomplices in committing a federal offense because marijuana is not an approved drug under the federal Controlled Substances Act.
That is why no county employee has acted on dispensary applications, Montgomery said: To avoid "having to argue the fine details of whether even a denial" of a permit application could be considered a violation of federal law.
In its lawsuit, White Mountain Health Center claims the DHS rejected its application for a registration certificate because the center could not obtain documentation from Maricopa County or from Montgomery showing there are no zoning restrictions that prevent a dispensary from opening in Sun City. DHS and its director, Will Humble, are also named as defendants.
In a letter to Jeffrey Kaufman, attorney for the health center, Montgomery explained the county will not issue zoning verification for medical-marijuana dispensaries "until the threat of federal prosecution is conclusively removed."
After applicants receive their registration certificate from DHS, they must get approval from their local jurisdiction to operate. Cities and towns across the Valley have different requirements for potential dispensary or cultivation-site owners.
A dispensary applicant must meet local zoning requirements.
If a local government rejects the application, the case would need to be handled in the courts, Humble said.
"Each jurisdiction handles it a little differently," Humble said. "Some, you just march into the office and they sign it. Others ask for some more information."
Ken Strobeck, executive director of the League of Arizona Cities and Towns, said he was not aware of any city or town in the state that has disallowed medical-marijuana dispensaries or cultivation sites, as Maricopa County has.
Based on his analysis, Montgomery said, other local jurisdictions that allow medical-marijuana dispensaries should be subject to federal prosecution.
"You can't enforce the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act," Montgomery said. "I don't care if it passed with 90 percent of the vote. Voters are no more entitled to pass something that's unconstitutional than the Legislature, and that's just a legal fact. If it's against the law, you can't enforce it … The medical-marijuana act is not even protected by the Voter Protection Act because it can't protect something that's unlawful."
Kaufman said the White Mountain Health Center is the only applicant for a medical-marijuana dispensary in Sun City.
"Obviously there are a lot of people in Sun City with serious medical conditions that we believe would benefit from medical marijuana," Kaufman said. "The voters in the state have approved medical marijuana, and I think it would be very unfair for the people of Sun City to travel outside of Sun City to go and get medical marijuana."
By Michelle Ye Hee Lee, The Republic|azcentral.com Jun 26, 2012
Permit for pot blocked, suit says - USATODAY.com
Monday, May 28, 2012
Applicants battle for Fountain Hills pot permit
The competition is expanding among applicants vying to open the only medical-marijuana dispensary that will be allowed in Fountain Hills.
So far, Bob Rodgers, the town's senior planner, has approved five zoning-verification applications for medical-marijuana facilities in the town.
The applicants are:
Restaurateur Josh Levine, for a dispensary on a vacant lot at 16935 E. Colony Drive.
Yvonne Wolf, co-owner of Wolf Brothers Construction Co., for a dispensary on a lot at 12008 N. Colony Drive.
The Healing Co., for a dispensary at 17007 E. Colony Drive, Suite 3.
Vladimir Buer of Buer Revocable Trust, for a dispensary at 16913 E. Enterprise Drive, units 103, 201 and 202.
Douglas Shaughnessy, for a dispensary at 16939 E. Colony Drive, Unit 2.
The deadline for submitting license applications to the Arizona Department of Health Services is 5 p.m. May 25.
Rodgers expects the number of applicants to be "fast and furious for the next week and a half."
"Everybody who has zoning verification will have their names thrown into a hat and one will get picked (for the state license)," he said.
The Department of Health Services will be awarding more than 100 dispensary licenses statewide.
So far, no applications have been received for facilities in Fountain Hills and no licenses will be awarded until August, according to the department.
The number of zoning verifications has increased since North Chapel Community Bible Church relocated from an office building at 16929 E. Enterprise Drive.
Numerous applications previously had been rejected, mostly because they were too close to the church.
The Healing Co., Buer and Shaughnessy applications were approved after the church relocation.
Shaughnessy's application was approved this week.
"There's been about a dozen so far that have requested zoning verification," Rodgers said.
A spokesman for the Healing Co., couldn't be reached for comment.
According to the Healing Co.'s website, it will "immediately establish itself as the model for all caregivers in the state."
The site also said the Healing Co. has "systems and procedures in place to ensure that all members are screened, verified and monitored in accordance with all applicable laws concerning the dispensing of medical marijuana."
Buer and Shaughnessy also couldn't be reached for comment.
The applicant who receives the license for Fountain Hills will have to return to the town for a business license, Rogers said.
They will then need renovation and construction permits, he added.
Finally, the applicant then will have to meet the construction guidelines outlined in the town's medical-marijuana ordinance, Rogers said.
by Edward Gately - May. 21, 2012 08:03 AM The Republic | azcentral.com
Applicants battle for Fountain Hills pot permit
So far, Bob Rodgers, the town's senior planner, has approved five zoning-verification applications for medical-marijuana facilities in the town.
The applicants are:
Restaurateur Josh Levine, for a dispensary on a vacant lot at 16935 E. Colony Drive.
Yvonne Wolf, co-owner of Wolf Brothers Construction Co., for a dispensary on a lot at 12008 N. Colony Drive.
The Healing Co., for a dispensary at 17007 E. Colony Drive, Suite 3.
Vladimir Buer of Buer Revocable Trust, for a dispensary at 16913 E. Enterprise Drive, units 103, 201 and 202.
Douglas Shaughnessy, for a dispensary at 16939 E. Colony Drive, Unit 2.
The deadline for submitting license applications to the Arizona Department of Health Services is 5 p.m. May 25.
Rodgers expects the number of applicants to be "fast and furious for the next week and a half."
"Everybody who has zoning verification will have their names thrown into a hat and one will get picked (for the state license)," he said.
The Department of Health Services will be awarding more than 100 dispensary licenses statewide.
So far, no applications have been received for facilities in Fountain Hills and no licenses will be awarded until August, according to the department.
The number of zoning verifications has increased since North Chapel Community Bible Church relocated from an office building at 16929 E. Enterprise Drive.
Numerous applications previously had been rejected, mostly because they were too close to the church.
The Healing Co., Buer and Shaughnessy applications were approved after the church relocation.
Shaughnessy's application was approved this week.
"There's been about a dozen so far that have requested zoning verification," Rodgers said.
A spokesman for the Healing Co., couldn't be reached for comment.
According to the Healing Co.'s website, it will "immediately establish itself as the model for all caregivers in the state."
The site also said the Healing Co. has "systems and procedures in place to ensure that all members are screened, verified and monitored in accordance with all applicable laws concerning the dispensing of medical marijuana."
Buer and Shaughnessy also couldn't be reached for comment.
The applicant who receives the license for Fountain Hills will have to return to the town for a business license, Rogers said.
They will then need renovation and construction permits, he added.
Finally, the applicant then will have to meet the construction guidelines outlined in the town's medical-marijuana ordinance, Rogers said.
by Edward Gately - May. 21, 2012 08:03 AM The Republic | azcentral.com
Applicants battle for Fountain Hills pot permit
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