Arizona moves closer to dispensing marijuana

KINGMAN, Ariz. - Arizona is moving closer to launching the medical marijuana program that voters narrowly approved in November 2010.

Legal challenges have slowed implementation of the initiative, which takes a step forward Monday when the Arizona Department of Health Services starts taking applications for those who want to operate the dispensaries and sell marijuana to residents who have been issued cards enabling them to buy the product.

"It's definitely here," department spokeswoman Laura Oxley said. "It's surreal."

Agency Director Will Humble said Arizona's residents remain divided on the merits of legally permitted use of marijuana to treat medical afflictions and conditions.

"There's a fringe of people who believe that marijuana is some kind of sacrament, and there's a fringe of people who think it's the worst thing in the world," Humble said. "I think most people in Arizona are somewhere in the middle, where they're more or less curious but don't have a firmly held opinion."

Humble said he has mobilized staff resources to handle up to 400 applications during the 10-day filing window that will remain open until May 25.

He said initial approvals are expected by Aug. 7, with Arizona's first dispensary possibly opening in September.

Up to 126 dispensaries are permissible throughout Arizona under the law.

Humble said he has no idea how many might be approved and permitted during the first application period.

"I'm just taking a shot in the dark by saying 50, maybe 50 to 90," Humble said.

That dispensaries are not yet operating has posed a supply problem for many of the more than 25,600 Arizona residents who have been approved for medical marijuana use dating to April 2011.

A little more than 80 percent have been issued cards allowing them to grow their own until dispensaries open within accessible proximity to their place of residence.

Kingman Police Chief Bob Devries said the "grow your own" component of the program poses problems for law enforcement, given the difficulty of discerning whether citizen tips or investigations involve permitted or illegal marijuana cultivation.

Devries said he favors dispensary distribution of the product to avoid that issue and to provide greater regulatory oversight.

Devries said he is concerned that pot production has been refined to the point that many are able to grow what he called "marijuana on steroids."

He said the effects of such powerful drugs might pose more problems than benefits for card holders.

Humble of the Department of Health Services said the voter-approved initiative does not provide consumer protection components for card holders.

He said the "buyer beware" maxim will apply for those who may be short-weighted or otherwise cheated at the point of purchase.

"We don't really have any requirement for quality control," Humble said.

"It's going to be up to the card holders to decide what dispensaries they want to buy their marijuana from, and that's the consumer end of this, but we're not getting into the middle of that transaction."