BUSINESSES REACT TO NEARBY MEDICAL POT DISPENSARY

As Arizona prepares to become the 15th state allowing the medicinal
use of marijuana, Valley business owners are having mixed feelings
about dispensaries opening near their stores.

The Phoenix store Medical Marijuana Dispensaries of Arizona set up
shop this fall in anticipation of the passage of Proposition 203 --
Arizona's citizen-drafted medical marijuana measure that was approved
by voters Nov. 2. The dispensary is the first store of its kind in the state.

But Debra Nehs, owner of the nearby business Kidding Around Playtown,
is not pleased that the store has come so close to her business.

"We run a children's play place and we've already had a few customers
express concern that it's over there," she said. "I was just
surprised that that's where it opened up."

Proposition 203 makes it legal for Arizonans with certain illnesses
to be prescribed medical marijuana. After a close vote count
following the Nov. 2 election, the measure passed by about 4,300
votes, or less than 0.25 percent of ballots cast.

Other dispensaries have started to pop up in the Valley, like the
Arizona Patients Association in Phoenix and Blue Monkey Apothecary in Gilbert.

Allan Sobol, the manager of Medical Marijuana Dispensaries, said in a
Nov. 4 interview with The State Press that finding a location to open
up was not easy.

"Corporate America still is resistant to this," he said. "We checked
into a lot of locations, but they were resistant."

Medical Marijuana Dispensaries of Arizona is located near Interstate
17 and Bell Road in a shopping center that is home to a variety of businesses.

The majority of the complex's storefronts, however, are now
displaying "For Lease" signs in their windows, said Sherri Collins, a
storeowner in the shopping center.

Collins is one of the owners of Other Mothers, a children's, women's
and maternity clothing exchange store. Collins said while she voted
against the medical marijuana proposition, she is looking forward to
possible increased shopping traffic the dispensary will bring.

"It's very sad to see how many 'For Lease' signs are in the windows
around us," she said. "It'll be good to see the space occupied and
people working and coming in and out."