MEDICAL-POT DISPENSARY APPLICATIONS TO BE DENIED

State health Director Will Humble was putting the finishing touches
Tuesday on the letter he will give to prospective medical-marijuana
dispensary owners when he declines their applications.

Though Humble and his staff have spent months preparing for today's
start of the dispensary application process, the federal lawsuit filed
Friday by Gov. Jan Brewer has put the kibosh on it.

"We'll explain to them that we're unable to accept applications right
now and thank them for their efforts," he said. "At least they'll have
something when they leave to document that they tried."

The first letter likely will be handed to attorney Ryan Hurley and his
clients, who plan to try filing a dispensary application this morning
at the state Department of Health Services' headquarters and be turned
away. Hurley said getting denied will set the stage for a lawsuit
against the state for failing to implement the provisions of the
voter-approved medical-marijuana law.

Humble is a plaintiff in the federal lawsuit, which seeks a
declaratory judgment to determine if the new law conflicts with
federal drug statutes and whether compliance with Arizona's
voter-approved medical-pot law shields state employees, patients,
dispensary owners and others from federal prosecution.

The state was to accept dispensary applications throughout the month
of June and issue up to 126 permits by August. But Humble put the
process on hold Friday, saying the court filing and advice from the
Attorney General's Office made it legally dicey. The health department
continues to accept applications for caregiver and patient ID cards as
required under the law.

Hurley and his clients will not have an official application to
submit, even though state rules require it, because Humble never
posted one on the health department's website.

Attorney Lisa Hauser, who wrote Proposition 203 and represents several
would-be dispensary owners, said she doesn't need to be turned away
from Humble to take legal action. She said some of her clients may
choose to file suit against the state for "failure to perform its
duties under the act."

The federal lawsuit names U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and U.S.
Attorney Dennis Burke as defendants, along with voters who supported
the ballot measure, patients and would-be dispensary owners. It
contends that letters sent over the past several months by federal
prosecutors have cast doubt on the legality of Arizona's law and the
liability of state employees and others who abide by it. Arizona is
among 16 states with medical-marijuana laws and all of them conflict
with federal law, which outlaws the cultivation, sale and use of pot.

Dr. Nicholas Flores, a Scottsdale oncologist and potential dispensary
medical director, said he agreed to be a defendant in the lawsuit
because he believes patients deserve clarity on the issue. Federal
prosecutors have said they won't prosecute patients but could go after
growers and sellers.

"I'd like to see some kind of resolution for my patients," he said.
"I'm tired of watching my 70-year-old patients try to figure out how
to score an ounce in an alley."