PRESCOTT CONSIDERS ZONING FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA OPERATIONS

PRESCOTT - Along with other communities across Arizona, Prescott is
grappling with a list of questions about medical marijuana.

Two Prescott commissions recently discussed the zoning issues
surrounding the ballot proposition that Arizona voters narrowly
approved in November. And both the Planning and Zoning Commission and
the Unified Development Code Committee will consider the matter again
in coming months.

The Unified Development Code Committee (UDC) will next discuss medical
marijuana 10 a.m. Jan. 5 at Prescott City Hall, 201 S. Cortez St. Soon
after that, the Planning and Zoning Commission will consider the
recommendations from that committee, although the P&Z commission's
discussion has yet to be scheduled.

Ultimately, the matter will go before the Prescott City Council for
consideration of an ordinance that would govern locations for medical
marijuana operations, including:

Dispensaries for the distribution of the marijuana and related
supplies.

Marijuana "facilities," including buildings, structures or premises
used for the growth, cultivation, and storage of the marijuana, as
well as the "infusion" of the substance by the cooking or blending
into consumable and edible products.

So far, the city has drafted an ordinance that would allow medical
marijuana in accordance with the state ballot issue, Proposition 203.

Planning Director George Worley stressed, however, that the city's
draft is still in the very preliminary stages, and that the UDC likely
would rewrite the document before it goes back to Planning and Zoning.

Currently, Worley said the city is awaiting the draft requirements
from the Arizona Department of Health Services, the agency that will
regulate Arizona's medical marijuana industry. Worley expects the
state's draft to be available on Friday, after which the department
would ask for public comment.

"We're almost in a holding pattern until we see what they propose,"
Worley said of the state's draft requirements.

Community Planner Mike Bacon told the Planning and Zoning Commission
this past week that among the questions is the taxability of the
medical marijuana.

"Is this going to be a taxable item? We don't know how the state is
going to decide on that," Bacon said, adding, "If it is taxed, we'd
like our cut, so to speak."

While some of the Planning and Zoning Commission discussion debated
the desirability of having the marijuana operations in the community,
Commissioner Len Scamardo noted, "We're a zoning commission, and I
think we ought to stick (to zoning issues)."

Basically, Worley said, the city aims to separate the manufacturing
side of the medical marijuana industry from the retail side, with the
manufacturing being restricted to heavy industrial areas, and the
dispensaries being in commercial areas.

In response to a question by Commission Chairman Tom Menser about why
the marijuana is not being handled through existing pharmacies, Adam
Trenk of the Scottsdale-based Rose Law Group responded that pharmacies
face a conflict because of their regulation by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA).

"Pharmacies are licensed by the FDA, and (medical marijuana) is still
illegal on the federal level," Trenk said.

Worley noted that the city has received a number of ordinance
recommendations from groups representing those with interests in the
medical marijuana program, including a sample ordinance from the Rose
Law Group.

"We accept information from anybody," Worley said, adding, "Certainly,
it's going to be vetted" to ensure that the recommendations are in the
city's best interests.

Worley expects the Arizona Department of Health Services to have its
requirements in effect by early April.

In preparation for that, he said, the City of Prescott plans to have
its ordinance in effect by early March.