MEDICAL-MARIJUANA STAKEHOLDERS WEIGH IN ON POSSIBLE REGULATIONS

As Scottsdale scrambles to pass regulations for medical-marijuana
dispensaries, patients and potential operators are weighing in on the
fine print of restrictions.

Hundreds of stakeholders gathered at city meetings this week to
provide input on enactment of Proposition 203, the Arizona Medical
Marijuana Act.

A provision in the act allows cities, towns and counties to pass
"reasonable" zoning regulations that control where medical-marijuana
dispensaries can locate.

"I'd like to not see it over-regulated," said Mitch Love, CEO of the
North Valley Herbal Health Center, a non-profit that plans to operate
as a medical-marijuana dispensary. "I do think you need to keep the
environment safe."

Scottsdale, like other communities, hopes to have its zoning
regulations in effect before the Arizona Department of Health Services
finalizes rules for implementation next year.

The department has until April to set up an electronic database to
track medical-marijuana users and dispensaries, and draft rules and
standards for the program.

Without local regulations, "There may be impacts on the uses that some
of our community members would prefer not to have, perhaps next to
their homes or next to their businesses," said Kira Wauwie, a project
coordination liaison for the city.

Scottsdale could limit land use of dispensaries, cultivation sites and
manufacturing facilities, which incorporate medical marijuana into
edible goods such as brownies.

Based on other cities' policies, Scottsdale could control the size of
dispensaries, hours of operation and distance from "protected uses,"
such as schools, churches, parks or community centers.

"Could the rules we put into place change? Yes," Wauwie
said.

Open houses hosted by the city drew hundreds of residents and
potential operators of dispensaries and certification centers eager to
weigh in on the issue. Their comments will be considered as the city
drafts a policy due before the Planning Commission on Wednesday.

Jason Reis, an associate with Arizona Medical Marijuana Certification
Centers, said the group plans to open locations throughout Arizona,
including Scottsdale.

The centers, which also operate in Michigan, have a stringent policy
for issuing medical-marijuana certifications, Reis said. Prior to an
appointment, patients must release their medical records for review by
a physician.

"When our patients come in, they're really sick," Reis said. "We see
cancer patients. We see Crohn's patients. We see people with very
debilitating illnesses. We're very careful and we do turn down
patients if they are not qualified."

Globe, Marana, Oro Valley and Tucson already have passed ordinances
regulating dispensaries.Morris Vincent, a Scottsdale resident, raised
concerns about over-regulation in Scottsdale.

Tucson limits the hours of dispensaries from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and
banned off-site delivery of the drug, he said.

"I hope the city of Scottsdale does not take up the attitude that
other cities, especially Tucson, has taken" Vincent said. "They have
restrictions that seem unnecessary punitive. . . . It seems to me less
restriction is better."

Love, of Cave Creek, hopes to grow organic medical marijuana at his
dispensary. He has a personal interest in the law as a Crohn's disease
patient.

Love, 37,was diagnosed with the condition at 16, and qualifies as a
patient under the act. He believes dispensaries should be in areas
that are accessible and non-threatening.

"Patients do not want to be driving into a commercial district, next
to a strip club," Love said. "They want to go someplace that is a nice
establishment - maybe not a medical office but a place that is upscale
with credibility on a medical front."