Pubdate: Tue, 21 Jan 2014
Source: Arizona Republic (Phoenix, AZ)
Copyright: 2014 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: Beth Duckett

SCOTTSDALE APPROVES MEDICAL-POT KITCHEN

Council Votes To OK Facility Near Scottsdale Airpark After Earlier
Rejecting Permit

The Scottsdale City Council narrowly agreed to allow a
medical-marijuana kitchen in the Scottsdale Airpark, two months after
turning down the request.

The council on Jan. 14 granted a conditional-use permit to Pure Bliss
Premium Medibles and Topicals, which is the trade name for a line of
marijuana infused goods ranging from brownies to pot pies, according
to its website.

The facility, near Hayden and Redfield roads, will prepare foods
infused with marijuana and sell them wholesale to medical-marijuana
dispensaries, a city report said.

The kitchen will be closed to the general public.

Court Rich, an attorney for the applicant, emphasized the facility "is
not a retail establishment."

Distinguishing between bakeries, where infused foods are prepared, and
dispensaries, where medical marijuana is sold, Rich said Scottsdale
"ended up with one actual retail dispensary within its boundaries,"
which is Monarch Wellness, near Pima Road and East Via de Ventura.

According to Mayor Jim Lane and Councilman Guy Phillips, Scottsdale
faced the prospect of a lawsuit if the council didn't approve the permit.

On Nov. 19, the council rejected the same request for a permit by a
4-3 vote.

Lane and council members Bob Littlefield, Phillips and Dennis Robbins
voted against the permit at that time, while Vice Mayor Virginia Korte
and council members Suzanne Klapp and Linda Milhaven supported it.

Last week, Littlefield changed his vote, giving Pure Bliss the needed
four votes.

"It occurred to me that if I was telling my council colleagues they
should respect the will of the voters in the bond election, then I
should also respect the will of the voters about medical marijuana,"
Littlefield said, a reference to Scottsdale's bond election in
November, which failed. Arizona voters passed the state's Medical
Marijuana Act in 2010.

Phillips, who voted against the permit, said the applicant's attorney
threatened litigation after the last "no" vote.

"This only emboldens applicants in the future to use coercion of
public officials to receive their desired results," Phillips said.
"This is an affront to our right to vote without fear of retribution
and erodes any faith in public servants by the voters."

Lane also cited the prospect of getting sued.

"This is a strange animal, and it's something I voted against because
I share the concerns that Councilman Robbins had stated last time,"
Lane said. "But I'd also say there is an underlying concern as to how
this is all going to be implemented, and of course the arbitrary
non-enforcement of federal drug laws."

Before the vote, Robbins said he had concerns that a city potentially
"could have an unlimited number of facilities" for medical marijuana
because kitchens can operate under certificates for dispensaries. "I
don't think that's what the citizens had in mind when they passed
this," Robbins said.

But Rich said it "is the way the state law was designed to be
implemented."

"The citizens of the state of Arizona also permitted those
dispensaries to associate with a bakery," he said. "It is just closed
for the processing and making of medical marijuana and edible products."

A medical-marijuana dispensary needs written permission from the
Arizona Department of Health Services to prepare, sell or dispense
marijuana-infused food products, often called edibles.

Ryan Hurley, an attorney with knowledge of Arizona's medical-marijuana
laws, said one dispensary can be associated with one kitchen or bakery.

"That kitchen can sell to other licensed dispensaries through the
licensed dispensary they're associated with," he said.

The Pure Bliss facility, just east of the Scottsdale Airport runway,
could operate under a registration certificate for a Mesa dispensary,
the city said.

Hurley said Pure Bliss still needs approval from the state Department
of Health Services. After filing with the state, "it could be three to
four weeks when they could be up and operating," he said.

According to a city report, the facility will operate from 6 a.m. to 7
p.m.

Security measures include smartcard access, remote monitoring and
fingerprint scanners, and any potential odor will be controlled
through carbon filters, the report said.  
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jo-D