Medical-Marijuana Dispensary Application Avalanche: Lottery to be Held for Competitive Areas; State Rakes in Cash

By Ray Stern Tue., May 29 2012 at 12:00 PM

Hundreds of applications for medical-marijuana dispensaries -- along with their $5,000 application fees -- poured into the state Department of Health Services last week.

The latest update on the Arizona DHS Web site shows 484 applications received in 99 of the 126 districts (a.k.a., "CHAAs,") around Arizona that are allowed to have the facilities, which under state law can cultivate and sell marijuana to qualified patients.

Permits are expected to be granted on August 7. But first will come the review process by DHS, followed by a lottery for the competitive CHAAs. Only one dispensary is allowed in each CHAA.

Despite some setbacks to the industry, such as the ongoing crackdown in California and some ominous court decisions, interest in owning Arizona dispensaries is higher than a Sun Lakes retiree puffing on Purple Rhino.

At least 200 people showed up with applications on Friday, the last day of the May 14-25 turn-in window. Last Wednesday was also busy, says DHS director Will Humble.

Most applicants submitted a cashier's check for the $5,000 fee, though one person brought the money in cash -- a stack of $100 bills, Humble says.

Because of the one-per-CHAA system, 385 disappointed applicants will get a refund of $1,000. Doing the math, that means the DHS will earn slightly more than $2 million.

DHS' medical-marijuana fund still has about $1.5 million from fees collected by patient and caregiver registrations.

"The fund is healthy, that's for sure," Humble says.

Some of the money will be used to pay the expenses for the oversight and inspection of the dispensary locations around the state. Part of the DHS plan is to pay overtime to existing licensing staff who volunteer for pot duty.

With the leftover funds, Humble plans to contract with the University of Arizona's pharmacy school and with state poison-control officials to provide educational materials that can be distributed to the dispensaries, and to offer guidance for the dispensaries' medical directors.

The DHS has already paid some money to the UofA for research into medical conditions that could qualify future patients, Humble says. State law requires the DHS to consider adding new qualifying conditions; a hearing took place last week in which members of the public made presentations about how marijuana helped their post-traumatic stress disorder, migraines, anxiety and depression.

The lottery that will pare down the multiple applications in many of the CHAAs will
resemble televised lottery drawings, right down to those air-blowing machines that send little balls with the winning numbers into a tube. The DHS is buying three of the machines -- one for practice, one for the drawing, and one as a back-up. Humble plans to have the process put on a live video feed for computer users.

Once chosen and permitted, would-be operators of dispensaries will need to have secured approval from a local city or county, then obtain a state operating license after an inspection of the facility. The doors can open to the public after that.

If someone who obtains state approval for a dispensary then fails to open or operate the business successfully, the CHAA that the dispensary is in will lay "fallow" until next year's permitting process begins, Humble says.

Qualified patients from Arizona and other states, (don't forget the Arizona's reciprocity provision), will be able to shop in the stores for various strains of marijuana, as well as processed goods like foods and tinctures. Patients can buy up to the statutory limit, two-and-a-half ounces, which is also the maximum that can be possessed at any given time.

Many patients are presumed to be growing pot for themselves now, which they legally won't be able to do once a dispensary opens within 25 miles. However, the cutoff time to
stop growing doesn't take effect the moment a dispensary opens, but after the patients' current card expires.

Because of that rule, some pot patients have begun renewing their cards up to six months early, Humble says. When the new card arrives, the savvy patients then have a full 12 months to grow pot, even if a dispensary is open nearby.

Tags:

applications, arizona, buds, chaa, department of health services, dhs, dispensaries, dispensary, marijuana, medical marijuana

We Recommend

Joyfully1

Thought they had to have city approval before turning in their application? Wasn't that part of the application?

Dan

Yes, you must have a signed AZDHS form from the Planning Dept. of the city within the CHAA that you are applying for... no signed letter = no zoning approval = an un complete, non-compliant application = no dispensary license.

it's a grey area of interpolation. ADHS states that you need to submit a letter from the local jurisdiction with the application. They don't say that you can't use it 10 times on the same property with different applications submittals.

Solacemanagementandconsulting

Local jurisdiction letter contains entity specific information so one entity one letter. Those of you who turned in one letter for one address for ten different entities just wasted 36 thousand dollars. As you are now being notified by DHS. This additional form is provided by DHS. If you did not use this form and turned in the letter lets say from Phoenix then their letter also has entity specific information so... any way you look at it one for ten will not fly. However ten letters for ten different entities is fine for the same address.

Donkey Hotay

They can stop that game playing by NOT REFUNDING the application fees.

Colorado does not refund application fees even if they deny the application.

Donkey Hotay

484 suckers and chumps who, after investing all their $$, will get shut down and prosecuted by the DEA.

Stupid stoners are as Stupid stoners do.

REBMEIR

REPEAL THE 25 MILE RULE NOW

BOHEMIAN OUTLAW HEDONIST

Only a pussy worries about a 25 mile rule.

Marcy

Or just do what you want and FUCK THE RULES!

Walter Concrete

Oh boy, money to line the bureaucrats pockets. None for the tax payers.

BOHEMIAN OUTLAW HEDONIST

The feds and bureaucrats conning more young dumb stoned pseudo 2012 hippies out of what lil money they have for a cheap plastic medical card just so you can smoke some so so sorta kinda legal weed. when if you buy illegal pot like I do you dont need a medical pot card. thats a big financial savings. the old way is still the best way. I been smoking weed for over 40 years and I never needed a medical pot card and I never will need one. FUCK THE RULES! im a nonconformist forever.

Heretic Warlord

Young people today are all pussies thats why they need medical pot cards. they aint outlaws like the 1960s baby boomer hippie Woodstock 69 generation were and still are.

Donkey Hotay

Weak Sauce Radicals

Every Mothers Son

Its alot eaiser to just go pick free locally grown arizona desert peyote than it is to go threw of this medical card nonsense. PEYOTE IS FREE! and is it not far from phoenix to go cut it if you know where to look. I been cutting locally grown arizona desert peyote in the same desert locale since 1973. im starting to think this new breed of younger medical card pot smokers are afraid of a little psychedelic peyote mescalito trip. or they are to stupid to know what it is or what it looks like.

Patswe

This "PEYOTE IS FREE!" moron posts in every weed related thread. You're not going to tell us where you harvest your yeild, (not that I blame you) so why don't you just shut the fuck up and go eat some of it, idiot.

Marcy

He cant be to much of a moron if he knows where to find peyote in ARIZONA and you dont. its not that hard to find if you know where to look. after all its a cactus and cacti grow in the Arizona desert you dumb ass! try leaving your ac cooled home and your computer once and go out to the desert and hike for a while and discover nature.

Larryinsunnyslope

POT IS FREE TO AS IS PEYOTE AND MAGIC MUSHROOMS if you know where to look. you young spoiled snot nosed bratty white suburban punks today dont have a fucking clue.

Peyote Eater

Your medical pot cost alot of money! $$ and you have to pay $$ for the medical pot card to. who is the real dummy here?

Marcy

YOU SOUND JEALOUS.

If you review the City of Chandler, City of Phoenix and other local districts, you will notice that CHAAs have been stacked by the same group. Some groups for the same locations. In some cases some locations have 4-8 applications by the same core group for the same building address. Fishy

Will the ADHS grant dispensary licences to these groups? Is this what the Gov Brewer expected?

Dan

The zoning has made it difficult to find a property, let alone a building on a property that is viable, that's why some applications have the same locations as their address.

Brewer didn't expect that the Genie can't be put back into the bottle. We have caregivers, co-ops, collectives and others pushing the limits of the proposition with the idea of because the law doesn't say you can't so therefor it must be legal.

The same happened with the dispensary applications when a control group of individuals submit 7 or more times on one site with only one zoning verification letter. Should the ADHS allow this type of activity? Go to the Arizona Corporation Commission website and look up "Dispensary", who are these guys? Big money applying and increasing their odds with 20-40 applications? I just find it very interesting.

Donkey Hotay

Behold the bum-rush of Greedy Big $$ Dispensary Cartel Carpetbaggers flooding into Arizona.

Same as with Colorado in 2008.

They completely destroyed the legitimate Patient/Caregiver model to their financial advantage.

Seedy Ward

Who gives a flying damn what Brewer expected?

Royalphoenix2

Only for MMJ can the state sell a 4k lottery ticket. wow

Albert

So the health department and I guess the state still seem to think that because a dispensary moves in within 25 miles... that will shut down all patient growing?????? Really? Are they not aware that we also passed prop 106 along with prop 203, that says that any resident, doctor, employer CAN NOT be forced into ANY healthcare program.....the dispensary program is just a part of prop 203, and can and should be excluded from "forced' participation. They made it (prop 106) so broad that..even the dispensary program must be a voluntary program.... Even if a person has a card. Prop106 was also given a backdate to January 1, 2009. People have been doing fine without a dispensary in their neighborhoods for the last year and a half....As long as they don't have more than 2.5 ounces in 2 weeks.

And the CHAA areas are not valid/legal under the health departments rules.... The location authority part of prop 203 was ONLY given to cites and towns.. for "reasonable" distance restrictions from schools, parks and churches.. Where and when has the health department ever had a say or voice where ANY business was located???? (NEVER) Especially when you have 2 pharmacies across the street, or even about a mile away from each other... Not to mention that the whole... forced participation of ANY business is against the state constitution, and would also seem to violate people's ability to get lower cost "medicine" versus having to use a dispensary....Another violation of the equal protection part of the law.... Prop 203 doesn't say that you have to get your MMJ from ONLY a care giver, patient, and even a dispensary. So again, people should be able to use a care giver, dispensary, or grow their own, or even utilize a dispensary and grow their own if they SO choose. Humble even said.. that it was a possibility that patients could even use as dispensary and grow their own depending on if their "card" had allowed them to grow.
A dispensary HALO system was only setup for $$$$$...Greed!!! All dispensary COSTS and EXPENSES can be deducted and added into the cost of patients MMJ. Seems a bit unfair, and unequal to patients who have low, or almost no income. Also, out of state MMJ patients are not able to use the dispensary system. It says that in the same section....