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The ballyhooed lottery to determine who will be selling medical marijuana in Mesa has come and gone, but the city is still in the dark as to who those are.
The Arizona Department of Health Services lottery was last week to select who will be allowed to take the final steps to open marijuana dispensaries.
Arizona voters approved the program by a narrow margin in 2010. It is moving forward despite numerous public officials warning that it conflicts with federal drug laws.
The health department divided the state into 126 zones, each of which is allowed one dispensary under state law.
Five zones were assigned to Mesa, but one of them contains no sites that are eligible under a zoning law passed by the city last year. Thirty-one applications for Mesa made it into Tuesday's lottery.
But the winners are identified only by a numeric code on the health department's website, and that's all the information the department will be allowed to release.
The statute governing medical marijuana exempts participants in the program, including caregivers and dispensaries, from having their information made public.
Gordon Sheffield, Mesa's zoning administrator, said, "We're at a loss, too," when it comes to finding out who the successful applicants are. "The state won't tell us anything."
Mesa may begin to learn their identities as they apply for building permits and certificates of occupancy, Sheffield said.
The city can only assume, however, that those applicants are legitimate.
"How are we supposed to know which ones are valid applications and which ones aren't?" Sheffield asked.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: azcentral.com
Author: Gary Nelson
Contact: Contacting The Arizona Republic
Website: Identities of medical-marijuana dispensers kept secret
The Arizona Department of Health Services lottery was last week to select who will be allowed to take the final steps to open marijuana dispensaries.
Arizona voters approved the program by a narrow margin in 2010. It is moving forward despite numerous public officials warning that it conflicts with federal drug laws.
The health department divided the state into 126 zones, each of which is allowed one dispensary under state law.
Five zones were assigned to Mesa, but one of them contains no sites that are eligible under a zoning law passed by the city last year. Thirty-one applications for Mesa made it into Tuesday's lottery.
But the winners are identified only by a numeric code on the health department's website, and that's all the information the department will be allowed to release.
The statute governing medical marijuana exempts participants in the program, including caregivers and dispensaries, from having their information made public.
Gordon Sheffield, Mesa's zoning administrator, said, "We're at a loss, too," when it comes to finding out who the successful applicants are. "The state won't tell us anything."
Mesa may begin to learn their identities as they apply for building permits and certificates of occupancy, Sheffield said.
The city can only assume, however, that those applicants are legitimate.
"How are we supposed to know which ones are valid applications and which ones aren't?" Sheffield asked.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: azcentral.com
Author: Gary Nelson
Contact: Contacting The Arizona Republic
Website: Identities of medical-marijuana dispensers kept secret
