Pubdate: Mon, 06 Feb 2012 Source: Arizona Republic (Phoenix, AZ) Copyright: 2012 The Arizona Republic Contact: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/sendaletter.html Website: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/24 Author: Michael Clancy PHOENIX POT DISPENSARY REQUEST PUT OFF FOR 2ND TIME Procedures, Timelines for Requests Not Complete A medical-marijuana dispensary request in northeast Phoenix has been postponed a second time due to red tape in state government. This would have been Phoenix's first medical-marijuana dispensary request since legal issues surrounding the voter-approved law were resolved. The problem is that even though the legal issues are completed, the procedures and timeline for dispensary requests are not yet complete, Phoenix planner Alan Stephenson says. The dispensary request was for a building on the southeastern corner of Cave Creek and Cactus roads, currently home to a check-cashing and gold-purchasing business. The applicant, Linda Sonder of American Healthcare Alternatives, needed a permit plus zoning variances because the site is closer to residences and the Phoenix Mountain Preserve than the city ordinance allows. The request had previously been delayed because of lawsuits challenging the law that recently were resolved. This time it was delayed because the Arizona Department of Health Services has not completed its dispensary requirements, Stephenson said. A Phoenix hearing officer is scheduled to consider the case on May 31. According to the Department of Health Services, the new rules for dispensaries should be completed by the end of March, with license granting scheduled to start in April. Phoenix has approved more than 20 medical-marijuana dispensary or cultivation sites, but because of their concentration in mostly industrial areas, not all of them will be allowed to open. City ordinance requests a mile between locations, and only one per community-health assessment area, a geographic tool used by Arizona to analyze illness concentrations. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom