STATE GETS ROLLING ON MEDICAL POT RULES

Now that Proposition 203 has been passed by voters, the Arizona
Department of Health Services staff is in the process of setting up
the rules that will apply to patients, caregivers and dispensaries.

According to the department's website, other states that have already
passed such laws will be a resource for Arizona. By mid-December,
Director Will Humble plans to have a working draft ready to go. Over
the following three weeks, the department will be taking comments and
suggestions on this first draft. By the end of January, he expects to
have changes incorporated into a new draft ready for more public
input and comment. Starting in mid-February, three public hearings
will be held, two in Phoenix and one in Tucson, for more comment on the rules.

The department has the authority to write the rules without having
them go through the process of review by the secretary of state.

Meanwhile, in Cochise County and the City of Bisbee, planning and
zoning directors are developing recommendations for code revisions to
determine where dispensaries will be permitted.

Carlos De la Torre, the new director of the Cochise County Community
Development Department who oversees the Planning and Zoning
Department and Highway and Floodplain Department, said work sessions
with the planning and zoning commissioners and board of supervisors
would begin soon.

"But we're going to see what rules the state defines," he said. "They
are only permitting so many dispensaries in the state, so rural
Cochise County may not have to worry about it. The permits may go to
the larger cities."

The matter is more pressing in Bisbee, where one business owner and a
longtime medical marijuana activist is already planning to set up a
non-profit dispensary. Patricia Steward, owner of the historic Stock
Exchange building on Brewery Gulch, has already been researching
business operations and may be one of the first to apply.

"For 40 years, I've supported drug law reformations, particularly
medical marijuana," she said. "Now that this has passed, people who
can benefit from the effects of marijuana will have that organic
option to help their illnesses."

The department is permitting just 120 dispensaries in the state,
basically one for every 50,000 residents. She will be competing with
others who plan to set up shop. There will be a nonrefundable fee,
yet to be determined, for applications, but she said it's worth it.

She plans to set up dispensary operations and the marijuana gardens
in the Stock Exchange, where her saloon is located. The dispensary
would be on the ground floor of the building where there is easy
handicapped access. Security of the premises is a stipulation of the
new rules, and she has already begun developing a system to protect
the marijuana. She also plans to grow plants on the top floor of the
building to use in the business.

Steward has traveled to California to observe and learn how to set up
shop from the businesses thriving there.

"I'm working mainly with the people in Oakland who are knowledgeable
of dispensaries. They are the cream of the crop. We want our shop to
be the most compliant, most compassionate shop in the state," she said.

Research has shown marijuana can be beneficial to patients with
multiple sclerosis, cancer, Crohn's disease, HIV/AIDS, severe chronic
pain and nausea, seizures and muscle spasms, to name a few maladies, she said.

In addition to helping patients, the dispensary would also bring
needed revenue to the city, Steward said.

She appeared before the City Council Tuesday to ask members to
support her endeavor and the medical marijuana rules in general.

The council does have a choice. It can accept the state medical
marijuana rules or adhere to federal law that makes all of it
illegal, as pointed out by Bisbee Community Development Director John
Charley. He'll be presenting the subject at the Planning and Zoning
Commission meeting scheduled for Dec. 16.

"We'll discuss the issue and determine what recommendations to make," he said.

City Attorney Mark Langlitz plans to review the Arizona League of
Towns and Cities sample ordinance before making recommendations to the council.

"We'll take a look at it and will probably adopt some variation of
it. Obviously, you wouldn't want a dispensary near a preschool,
school or church," he said.

As for Steward's plan to grow it at the Stock Exchange, that might be
a problem.

"Growing may be limited to agricultural districts, and Bisbee has no
ag zones," Langlitz said.

And with only 120 permits to be approved, he expects them to go to
more urban locations with a larger population than Bisbee.

But, he continued, nothing will happen until the state finishes work
on the rules.

"Right now, there are a lot of questions to be answered. I can say
that Bisbee will comply and implement the law when it's completed," he said.

If a dispensary does open in Bisbee, patients may see an added tax on
the drug. City Manager Steve Pauken said a dispensary could bring law
enforcement issues.

"This isn't like a regular pharmacy. We don't know what issues will
arise," he said.

But these prescriptions will not be tax-free, he added.

"We're still in the process of determining what is available to us.
Rest assured, we will levy the maximum tax allowable."

Laura Oxley, public information officer for the department, agreed
there are many issues to be hammered out:

"We don't have answers to a lot of questions right now."

A state lawmaker from Tucson plans to propose during the upcoming
legislative session a statewide ban on synthetic marijuana.

Democratic Rep. Matt Heinz is a physician and says the material is
dangerous and unpredictable.

Heinz saw four college-age people come into an emergency room because
one of their friends was experiencing side effects after smoking the
material. Heinz says the student couldn't speak, his upper
extremities were twitching and he had headaches and nausea.

The federal government last month began the process of putting the
five chemicals used in herbal blends to make the synthetic marijuana
in the same drug category as heroin and cocaine.

Timeline

Here's a look at what's ahead regarding the state's medical marijuana law:

Dec. 17: State posts an initial informal draft of the rules.

Dec. 17 to Jan. 7: Time for public comment on draft of rules.

Jan. 31: State posts official draft rules for public comment.

Jan. 31 to Feb. 18: State receives public comment on a revised draft
of the rules.

Feb. 14 to Feb. 16: State holds three public meetings (Phoenix, 1
p.m. Feb. 14 and 16, 250 N. 17th Ave.; Tucson, 1 p.m. Feb. 15, 400 W.
Congress, Room 222).

Feb. 18: Deadline for comments.

Feb. 21 to March 18: Final changes.

Week of March 21: Effective date of rules.

March 28: State publishes the final rules that will be used to
implement the act

April: State begins to accept applications for registry
identification cards and for dispensary certificate.

Learn more

As listed on the Arizona health Department's Web site:
www.azdhs.gov/prop203/index.htm .