ARIZONA TRIBE'S MARIJUANA-LAW REQUEST DISMISSED

Gila River Indian Community officials have asked Pinal County
supervisors not to locate pot dispensaries within a mile of their
borders because they don't recognize medical marijuana and will
prosecute anyone who tries to sell or use it on tribal land.

A letter signed by tribal Gov. William R. Rhodes said the county's
cooperation would support his community's stance against medical
marijuana and help "reduce secondary effects and issues that could
arise from dispensaries being located within a mile of the community's
boundary."

The community later clarified those secondary effects as safety
hazards, traffic issues and "ancillary crimes," including armed
robberies, burglaries and drug dealing.

Pinal supervisors last week approved a medical-marijuana ordinance
without accommodating the tribe's Feb. 14 request. The ordinance
dictates zoning rules for dispensaries and related facilities, and
went into effect on approval.

Jerry Stabley, Pinal County planning director, told supervisors the
tribe's request was not reason enough to justify a change to the ordinance.

"What we'd be doing is taking hundreds of miles and say in those
sections of land you cannot have a dispensary," Stabley said. "If we
choose to go down this road, we need to extend this to all
communities."

County officials have been pushing to get the ordinance on the books
before the state health department comes out with its own guidelines,
expected later this month.

"We didn't have time to seriously debate whether or not we could do as
(the tribe) requested," said Pinal County Supervisor David Snider,
whose district includes the Gila River community. "At a future date,
we may well have a discussion about an amendment to our policy with
regard to this issue."

If not a policy change, Snider said, supervisors could consider the
tribe's request on a case-by-case basis when dispensaries seek to
operate on unincorporated county land.

In November, voters passed Proposition 203, allowing qualifying
patients with certain debilitating medical conditions to receive up to
2 1/2 ounces of marijuana every two weeks from dispensaries or
cultivate up to 12 marijuana plants if they live 25 miles or farther
from a dispensary.

The state's medical-marijuana rules have yet to be finalized, but the
program is expected to be fully functioning by late summer or early
fall.

Gila River spokeswoman Alia Maisonet said the tribe submitted comment
to the Arizona Department of Health Services regarding its
medical-marijuana draft regulations, in addition to sending letters
like Pinal County's to each surrounding municipality.

The Gila River Indian Community has about 11,550 members and is
located on a 372,000-acre reservation just south of Phoenix, Tempe and
Chandler.

"The community just doesn't want to open that door to the
reservation," Maisonet said of the potential for nearby dispensaries.
"We're working diligently to try and correct the substance-abuse
issues that we currently have and we feel that it wouldn't help."

Pinal County's new law puts pot outlets in the same zoning category as
general business, amusement or recreational enterprises - basically,
strip malls. A number of Arizona communities have proposed or approved
ordinances restricting medical-marijuana to industrial zones.

Under the new Pinal County law, medical-marijuana dispensaries, grow
houses and food producers must obtain special-use permits that are
subject to renewal every two years.

Up to 12 pot dispensaries could operate in Pinal County, according to
draft guidelines by the state health department. Only eight may be
subject to county rules. The other four are on reservations.