Pubdate: Mon, 13 Aug 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: Gary Nelson

IDENTITIES OF MEDICAL-MARIJUANA DISPENSERS KEPT SECRET

State Law Forbids Disclosing Names, Locations

The ballyhooed lottery to determine who will be selling medical 
marijuana in Mesa has come and gone, but the city is still in the 
dark as to who those are.

The Arizona Department of Health Services lottery was last week to 
select who will be allowed to take the final steps to open marijuana 
dispensaries.

Arizona voters approved the program by a narrow margin in 2010. It is 
moving forward despite numerous public officials warning that it 
conflicts with federal drug laws.

The health department divided the state into 126 zones, each of which 
is allowed one dispensary under state law.

Five zones were assigned to Mesa, but one of them contains no sites 
that are eligible under a zoning law passed by the city last year. 
Thirty-one applications for Mesa made it into Tuesday's lottery.

But the winners are identified only by a numeric code on the health 
department's website, and that's all the information the department 
will be allowed to release.

The statute governing medical marijuana exempts participants in the 
program, including caregivers and dispensaries, from having their 
information made public.

Gordon Sheffield, Mesa's zoning administrator, said, "We're at a 
loss, too," when it comes to finding out who the successful 
applicants are. "The state won't tell us anything."

Mesa may begin to learn their identities as they apply for building 
permits and certificates of occupancy, Sheffield said.

The city can only assume, however, that those applicants are legitimate.

"How are we supposed to know which ones are valid applications and 
which ones aren't?" Sheffield asked.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom