OFFICIAL: LAW LIMITS MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES IN YAVAPAI COUNTY TO 7

COTTONWOOD - Medical marijuana dispensaries will be limited in Yavapai
County due to an unusual coincidence, and there will likely end up
being no more than seven in the entire county, said Steven Mauk,
Director of County Development Services.

In a joint work session with the Board of Supervisors and Planning and
Zoning Commission Wednesday, Mauk said the law limits dispensaries -
the term used for shops that sell medical marijuana - so they must be
placed evenly in Community Health Association areas, meaning every CHA
must have one dispensary before any can have a second.

There are nine CHA areas - geographical divisions based on cancer
rates - in Yavapai County, but two include tribal reservations, which
are governed by federal law. Since marijuana is still illegal
according to federal law, those two CHA areas can't have dispensaries
at all.

That means only the remaining seven CHA areas will be allowed to have
dispensaries, so they will all end up with just one each.

That limitation does not apply to commercial growing operations, Mauk
said, but those must be in areas with zoned for industrial purposes,
and "there isn't unlimited opportunity because we have very limited
amounts of industrial zoning."

Caregivers who supply medical marijuana for up to five patients are
allowed to grow marijuana in any zoning, including residential. They
can have up to 12 plants per patient, for a total of 70.

Mauk said the Arizona Department of Health Services would establish in
which CHA area each dispensary would be located, but that the owners
were free to choose where they would set up shop within the CHA boundaries.

Chief Deputy Scott Mascher of the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office said
enforcement of medical marijuana offenses would not be a primary objective.

"Our biggest priority at the Sheriff's Office is related to public
safety," he said. "It's not going to take priority over public safety."

"We are going to take seriously the potential for this to go from a
medical to a recreational issue," Mascher added.

He said deputies were also training to use a new computer database to
check the validity of medical marijuana cards that give patients
access to the drug.

Mauk said there is currently one use permit for a dispensary pending
in Yavapai County. He pointed out that an operator cannot apply for a
state dispensary license until they get permission from local
authorities.