The State of Arizona today announced that it will begin accepting applications for medical marijuana dispensary licenses. As Arizona Department of Health Services Director Will Humble subtly expressed, "The tumblers have clicked, and the race to apply for a dispensary is on." 

The Arizona Attorney General's Office has given the Department of Health the green light to begin accepting applications. Humble explained that "our revised rules for regulating medical marijuana were filed and became official today, and we'll be accepting applications for Medical Marijuana Dispensary Registration Certificates from May 14 through May 25."

“We’ll have 30 working days to review the applications, and applicants will have 20 working days to submit any documents or information that were missing during our review of the application," Humble further clarifies. "We expect to award Medical Marijuana Dispensary Registration Certificates on Aug. 7. If there’s only one qualified applicant in a CHAA, that applicant will be awarded a Registration Certificate. We’ll be holding a random drawing in early August to award Registration Certificates in CHAAs with more than one qualified applicant,” Humble wrote.

The State expects more than 100 dispensary certificates to be issued by August 7, allowing prospective medical marijuana providers to begin creating their dispensaries soon afterwards. Once the dispensaries are built, applicants will be required to apply for an operating license that will be granted once a state inspector determines that the dispensary is up to operating standards pursuant to the medical marijuana law and state health codes.