Arizona’s medical marijuana law is on its way to being implemented, as litigation challenging the law has failed. On January 4th U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton dismissed the case brought by the State of Arizona and Governor Jan Brewer against the United States, the Arizona Association of Dispensary Professionals, and the Arizona Medical Marijuana Association. Just a few weeks later Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Richard Gama ruled that the state cannot restrict who operates medical-marijuana dispensaries based on where they live or their financial history.
Since these rulings nearly 500 applications for medical-marijuana dispensaries have been filed with the Arizona Department of Health Services. 126 dispensary licenses are expected to be awarded in early August, one per designated geographical Community Health Analysis Area, or CHAA. This Department of Health Services map provides a visual of the number of applications received per CHAA.
You can read more about the Department of Health Services’ implementation of the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act on the Department’s Medical Marijuana website.
