Lawsuit Targets Arizona's Medical Marijuana Dispensary Qualification Rules.

[Michael Komorn]

 

Lawsuit targets Arizona's medical marijuana dispensary qualification rules

 

 

 

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_phoenix_metro/central_phoenix/lawsuit-filed-against-arizona-targeting-medical-marijuana-dispensary-qualification-rules

 

 

Lawsuit targets Arizona's medical marijuana dispensary qualification rules

 

 

• By: ABC15.com staff

PHOENIX - A lawsuit announced Thursday alleges the State of Arizona is discriminating against the majority of citizens looking to become medical marijuana dispensary operators.

 

Compassion First AZ is suing the State of Arizona, Jan Brewer, the Arizona Department of Health Services and William Humble, Director of ADHS. It claims the purpose of the lawsuit is to make surreal Arizona citizens get the full benefit of Prop 203, the initiative allowing medical marijuana dispensaries throughout Arizona.

 

"We had high hopes for the fair and open process initially proposed by ADHS for the awarding of up to $5 billion or more worth of Medical Marijuana Dispensary Licenses," said Gerald Gaines,Founder of Compassion First AZ. "Unfortunately the finalized Rules developed by ADHS did not provide a 'level playing field' for the dispensary applicants. In fact, the final Rules and Regulations are discriminatory and provide an unfair advantage to a select group of applicants while putting the majority of citizens interested in becoming dispensary operators at a distinct disadvantage relative to the 'favored' group."

 

According to Compassion First AZ, there are numerous examples of these "unfair" criteria that prevent many from receiving a dispensary operator license, such as:

 

- Individuals without the money and influential relationships are not able to quickly procure the proper local zoning approvals, as set by AHDS.

- An Arizona resident who hasn't filed an Arizona State Tax Return in the last three years is disqualified, even if they've lived in the state for less than three years.

- An individual who has filed for personal bankruptcy at any time in their life, or any individual who was a senior officer of an entity that filed for bankruptcy, is disqualified.

- Compassion First AZ alleges that many applicants will face "monetary and confiscatory hurdles bearing no relation to the operation of a dispensary"and will be disqualified.

 

"Hopefully, this lawsuit will be the catalyst for other concerned citizens to express their issues with the proposed licensing system so that Arizonans get what they actually voted for back in November. We believe that ultimately the delays will be shorter and the cost swill be lower if these legal issues are resolved prior to an attempt to implement such an obviously flawed system," Gaines said.

 

 

[Guest Indica Jones]

I have a feeling they are going to be dragging out the dispensary drama for a long time. Hopefully they can incorporate the Caregiver model in there to keep the ball rolling.