The tumblers have clicked, and the race to apply for a dispensary is on. Our revised rules for regulating Medical Marijuana were filed and became official today- and we’ll be accepting applications for Medical Marijuana Dispensary Registration Certificates from May 14 through May 25.
The unofficial rules incorporate the changes that were required by a recent Superior Court Ruling. The judge ordered us: 1) to strike several of the selection criteria we had been planning to use for competitive areas of the state (areas where there will be more than 1 applicant per Community Health Analysis Area); and 2) to implement the law- which is what we’re doing.
You can check out our Registration Certificate Application Checklist, Registration Certificate Application Instructions, and the official Registration Certificate Application on our Medical Marijuana Dispensary webpage. Please don’t try to apply early- the first day we’ll actually accept applications will be May 14. Starting May 14th, every day or so, we’ll refresh our dispensary application page to show how many applications we’ve received by Community Health Analysis Area (CHAA).
We’ll start reviewing applications as they come in (starting on May 14) and we’ll stop taking applications at the close of business (5 p.m.) on May 25. We’ll have 30 working days to review the applications- and applicants will have 20 working days to submit any documents or information that were missing during our review of the application. We expect to award Medical Marijuana Dispensary Registration Certificates on August 7. If there’s only 1 qualified applicant in a CHAA, that applicant will be awarded a Registration Certificate. We’ll be holding a random drawing in early August to award Registration Certificates in CHAAs with more than 1 qualified applicant.
Please visit our Medical Marijuana website if you have any further questions. The materials that you’ll need to apply are all posted on-line- including the Application Checklist, Application Instructions, and the official Medical Marijuana Dispensary Registration Certificate Application.
I don’t thnink we should have to renew this year for the following reasons:
1. We were effectively barred from due process by the states actions in filing a lawsuit.
2. There still is such a thing as equal protection under the law when a persons right to something is blocked by the very agency that administers those rights.
3. It’d be a shame to have to file suit against the state to accomplish this. But, be assured I will, for as it stands now, the state collected my money last year then prevented me access by their own actions.
Very good that matter learned a lot here. thank you very much
“…so we could potentially award up to 125 dispensary certificates by mid- to late-June.”
What caused Registration Certificates to be issued nearly 2 months later than that recent statement?
Also, if Arizona can review and approve a patient within 1 day of application submission then perhaps dispensaries can be approved more quickly than 90 days of application submission.
Keith,
It took about two months for the rules to be filed after they left ADHS… that’s why the difference from the recent statement. The timeline is the same, it just starts later because the rules were filed later. You raise an interesting point of why it takes so much longer to evaluate a dispensary application than a registry card application. With a qualifying patient card, ADHS has to make sure the patient filled out everything completely and that the physician is licensed and completed the form correctly. It’s a fairly simple process that allows us to move quickly and thoroughly. If you look at the application checklist for a dispensary, there are several complicated factors to check and evaluate. ADHS will need to ensure that the business plan is for a non- profit entity, and that the security system and inventory control system plans are adequate. Since all the applications will be coming in at one time, there will be a lot of time involved to check every application for these involved topics. It’s not quite as cut and dry as the registry cards. Hope that helps you understand!
That helps, thanks.
I want to add my feedback to the current lawsuit challenging the 25 Mile Rule of Prop 203:
Though limiting certified cardholders to purchasing only from a dispensary if they live within 25 miles of their CHAA dispensary ensures the financial success of the 126 dispensaries to be allowed by AZ law, and ensures rich tax coffers for the state of Arizona, it sorely limits the relief intended by the law for low-income cardholders.
Paying high dispensary prices will cause 100s if not 1,000s of medical marijuana patients to go without or go with less medical relief. Cultivating their own marijuana should be a right under Prop 203 for all approved cardholders no matter where they live.
Thanks,
Jim
ADHS Certified Medical Marijuana patient
“We’ll be holding a random drawing in early August to award Registration Certificates in CHAAs with more than 1 qualified applicant.”
The rules appear to be vague on how the Department will conduct the random drawing. Could you provide some more insight on how the drawing will be conducted? Will individuals with applications in the CHAA be able to attend the drawing to ensure some transparency?
Doug,
You raise a good question. We will do the random drawing in a public forum, but it may not be very exciting. ADHS is hiring an outside contractor to run the random selection and a separate outside auditor to oversee the process. While it may seem like a lot of people involved, we want to make sure that the drawing process is completely random and fair. We’ll let you know here exactly where the random selection will happen.
I live near Flagstaff and some locals here have found questionable ways to profit on medical marijuana, such as club/ pot stores, before being issued a licience! I am hoping that people who have followed the law and waited patiently for their chance to have a dispensary rather than jumping the gun, will have priority over those who have acted rashly, with federal laws being challenged, if not broken. It does not seem fair and people who follow the law should be rewarded. I am wondering what your thinking/ and the law is on this issue.
Linda,
If you believe illegal activity is going on, please contact your local police department. We will be very fair in our dispensary selection process.
Thanks
Why are the applications being accepted for only 10 days (May 14-25) instead of the 30 days that were being allowed last year (June 1-30, 2011)? This is not allowing the same time available to prepare the necessary information required.
Dan,
Everyone applying has an equal amount of time to prepare and apply for a dispensary certificate. Everyone had access to all the paperwork 30 days before the acceptance period. So it is the same amount of time as the June, 2011 period.
I’ll leave it to the Feds to do their job.
I want to know if all the marijuana clubs that are in business all over Arizona will have to close once the dispensaries are opened, or will people still be able to “trade” and give it to each other? Bypassing the stores?
Janice,
We have nothing to do with what is currently operating, that is and will continue to be a question for law enforcement.
Thanks
I was thinking of it as more of a zoning issue. If dispensaries are required to be a certain distance from schools then how is it pot clubs can be near them? I don’t think zoning is a law issue- but if you are not in charge of this who is? And if they are allowed to keep open, how might this effect dispensaries, but can’t see how it’s a police issue I think it’s a government issue. Thanks
Janice,
We have nothing to do with pot clubs, that is an issue that you should take up with the county/city in which the pot club resides.
Director Humble, Can you possibly provide some more information on what will / will not be allowed to be added as supplemental information during the 20 day period that is allotted for submitting missing info?
Thanks
DJ,
Your question doesn’t make sense because every dispensary registration certificate application should be complete when it is turned into the department. The initial (administrative) review will ensure that the major elements are all present. The second (substantive) review will ensure that all the elements have everything they need. If during either of those reviews, we discover missing information we’ll notify the applicant. Missing documentation could impact the application process. Please review the checklist carefully before filing an application.
Hi Will,
First, I know you and your team have worked hard to implement the MM program, and I applaud you for that, I know it has been difficult to satisfy everyone and Arizona’s program will be a model for the country to follow.
Now, I respectfully disagree with your comment:
“Everyone applying has an equal amount of time to prepare and apply for a dispensary certificate. Everyone had access to all the paperwork 30 days before the acceptance period. So it is the same amount of time as the June, 2011 period.”
And my response is: 12 days is not 30 days. Last year the application process was to be 30 days, June 1-30, so now it is different — 12 days is not 30 days.
I am part of a team of people that plan on submitting applications in two CHAAs, and we recently found a building zoned correctly in one of the CHAAs… I am not kidding, that it has taken up till today 5/11/12 to negotiate all of the details with the owner of the building… now we have to get the paperwork approved by that Cities planning and zoning department. I had a conversation with the person in the Planning dept. earlier this week and he said “Hey, you know you are running out of time” and I had to respond “I know, but the Dept. of Health reduced the timeline by 18 days, if we had the same 30 days for the application process as we were supposed to last year, we would not be up against this timing issue.”
So I respectfully disagree, and I wish you would consider extending the dispensary application process until June 12th, which would be 30 calendar days, the same as was planned for the timeline in 2011, I believe that is what is the fair thing to do.
How do i find a store? is there any open now? How do i join the club? Help 🙂
Surferman007
surferman007,
There are currently no licensed medical marijuana dispensaries in Arizona. If you wish to obtain a medical marijauna patient card, please visit our website.