Pubdate: Thu, 13 Oct 2016
Source: Tucson Weekly (AZ)
Copyright: 2016 Tucson Weekly
Contact:  http://www.tucsonweekly.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/462
Author: Nick Meyers

DISPENSARY DISTRIBUTION

Just before Prop 205 goes before voters, new dispensary licenses are 
approved making way for more MJ

The Arizona Department of Health Services announced 31 new dispensary
licenses last week, bringing the total number of Arizona dispensaries
to 130 a month before Prop 205 appears on the November ballot.

Nearly 750 potential pot purveyors applied for the limited number of
licenses back in August in what many consider a lottery. While the
AZDHS reviews applications to direct openings in areas closest to high
concentrations of medical patients, nine of the 31 applicants were
drawn in a literal lottery with each of the nine being tied with two
to five other would-be dispensaries.

Each applicant also had to pay a $5,000 application fee, of which
$1,000 was refundable. But with Prop 205 on the horizon, those
licenses could be worth millions. Still, the AZDHS roped in just over
$3 million even after the refund.

Dispensaries are distributed throughout the state in 126 "Community
Health Analysis Areas" created by the AZDHS in 2005. Since the
legalization of medical marijuana in Arizona, the CHAAs have been used
to allocate dispensaries.

An average CHAA contains about 21,500 people, but can range anywhere
from 5,000 to 190,000 people. Across the state, each CHAA has anywhere
from zero to two dispensaries, though precise locations are not
disclosed by the state in adherence with the Arizona Medical Marijuana
Act.

Tucson has six CHAAs around the city with five more containing parts
of the city. The six main CHAAs are broken up into a central area,
north central, east, east central, southeast and southwest and each
contains a single dispensary.

The outlying CHAAs are Tucson Northeast and West, Tanque Verde,
Continental and San Xavier District. Tucson West and San Xavier
District are the only ones without a dispensary.

Tucson's nine dispensaries correspond with each of the remaining
CHAAs.

Of the 31 new dispensary licenses, one is in Tucson Northeast and one
is in Tucson East Central. The Tanque Verde CHAA also acquired a
second dispensary bringing the total number of Tucson dispensaries up
to 12.

The last lottery was held in 2012, a couple years after Prop 203
passed by an infinitesimal .13 percent approving medical marijuana in
2010. The 2012 lottery was the first held for dispensary licenses and
awarded 99 licenses from a pool of 484 applicants.

The increase in applicants this year is likely in anticipation of Prop
205 passing, which would open up the market not only to greater
demand, but also for about roughly 20 more dispensaries.

Prop 205 would give operating dispensaries, and those currently in
possession of licenses, priority over the market, making the last
license lottery a battle for big bucks, though the limit on the number
of dispensaries allowed will expand after 2021 under the proposed law.

The AZDHS determined which licenses to award based on the locations of
the proposed dispensaries to correspond with the greatest demand of
medical marijuana patients.

This has resulted in something of a legalized turf war as industry
insiders have scrambled to research and model which locations have the
greatest chance of obtaining a dispensary license.

While the state no doubt has its reasoning behind distributing
dispensaries in such a controlled system, if recreational marijuana
becomes a reality, and with a limited supply, we'll just have to wait
and see if the law hits the black market the way many supporters hope
it will.
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MAP posted-by: Matt