Truth Seeker
New Member
Medical Pain Relief Inc.'s number came up Tuesday in a lottery for a medical marijuana dispensary in Casa Grande. Medical Pain Relief, a Scottsdale nonprofit, was one of four applicants in the drawing for a dispensary in the Casa Grande area.
The Arizona Department of Health Services will allow one dispensary for each of 126 Community Health Analysis Areas spread throughout the state. CHAA No. 99 covers the Casa Grande area.
There was more than one applicant in 74 CHAAs. DHS on Tuesday selected the winning applicants in each by lottery, using what The Associated Press described as "bingo-style machines." Ninty-seven applicants will be certified to operate medical marijuana dispensaries in Arizona. Not every CHAA had an applicant.
By law, DHS cannot identify dispensary applicants. In the lottery, winners were identified by a number tied to an application.
But Brittany Abbate, a spokeswoman for Medical Pain Relief, said by phone Tuesday that her client won the drawing for the Casa Grande CHAA.
Abbate herself was an applicant in partnership with her mother, Barbara Abbate. They applied for a Casa Grande medical marijuana zoning permit under the company name Marigold Enterprises. She said she was hired to speak for Medical Pain Relief shortly after the drawing.
According to city records, the winning applicants proposed a medical marijuana dispensary in a building at a medical plaza east of Casa Grande Regional Medial Center. The address at 1860 E. Salk Drive falls within a medical marijuana zoning overlay created by the city. Abbate would not confirm the address of the proposed clinic.
She also declined to name the owners of Medical Pain Relief and said they were unavailable for comment.
Arizona Corporation Commission records list the directors as William and Mary Kostrivas of Scottsdale.
Abbate said, however, her clients were "very excited and looking forward to being able to serve the community. These are good, hard-working, church-going people."
She added: "For the people of Casa Grande, there could not have been a better choice." They are also looking forward to serving "state-issued cardholders with medication," Abbate said.
Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne, in an opinion dated Aug. 6, however, said federal law bars the dispensaries because it preempts the state's Medical Marijuana Act. In an accompanying news release, Horne said the opinion is not binding as a court order. But he added: "We expect that there will be a motion for accelerated resolution of this issue in a pending court case."
A lawsuit has been filed by a dispensary that had been denied an application in Sun City. The law requires that applicants comply with local zoning ordinances, but Maricopa County provided no zoning for medical marijuana. Sun City is an unincorporated community in Maricopa County.
One applicant to lose out for Casa Grande was oncologist Dr. Donald Hill, part of two investor groups that applied for licenses in a half-dozen or so CHAAs.
"Today was a day of mixed blessings," Hill said on the phone. "Here in Casa Grande, where I live ... would have been the crown jewel."
In addition to losing out in Casa Grande, Hill and his partners lost the lottery for Eloy and Benson.
But he said one of his investor groups was selected for dispensaries in Sahuarita, northeast Tucson and Arivaca.
"A different investor group I was involved with nailed down the Coolidge CHAA and also Catalina," Hill said.
Horne's opinion complicates the situation, he said.
Abbate didn't disagree. Certification is one step along the way.
"There's still quite a lot of work to be done with the state," she said. As for the attorney general's opinion, "We're sort of watching that closely and seeing how that turns out."
DHS spokeswoman Laura Oxley said DHS would continue to implement the law "until there is a court order or an imminent threat of prosecution of DHS employees."
DHS originally received 12 applications for a dispensary in the Casa Grande CHAA.
"Eight of those didn't make the drawing, and it could have been that eight of those didn't have $150,000," Oxley said.
The law requires dispensary applicants to have a line on $150,000 for startup costs.
Casa Grande contractor John Wright and his group were among the eight. Wright had applied to the city to operate a cultivation facility and dispensary in an area zoned for industrial use.
"We as a group backed out," Wright said, adding – among other things – that the $200,000 needed for startup costs for both types of facilities was a barrier.
Hill agreed. Having skin in the game wasn't cheap.
"It took a boatload of money," he said.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: trivalleycentral.com
Author: Bill Coates
Contact: TriValley Central > Contact Us
Website: TriValley Central
The Arizona Department of Health Services will allow one dispensary for each of 126 Community Health Analysis Areas spread throughout the state. CHAA No. 99 covers the Casa Grande area.
There was more than one applicant in 74 CHAAs. DHS on Tuesday selected the winning applicants in each by lottery, using what The Associated Press described as "bingo-style machines." Ninty-seven applicants will be certified to operate medical marijuana dispensaries in Arizona. Not every CHAA had an applicant.
By law, DHS cannot identify dispensary applicants. In the lottery, winners were identified by a number tied to an application.
But Brittany Abbate, a spokeswoman for Medical Pain Relief, said by phone Tuesday that her client won the drawing for the Casa Grande CHAA.
Abbate herself was an applicant in partnership with her mother, Barbara Abbate. They applied for a Casa Grande medical marijuana zoning permit under the company name Marigold Enterprises. She said she was hired to speak for Medical Pain Relief shortly after the drawing.
According to city records, the winning applicants proposed a medical marijuana dispensary in a building at a medical plaza east of Casa Grande Regional Medial Center. The address at 1860 E. Salk Drive falls within a medical marijuana zoning overlay created by the city. Abbate would not confirm the address of the proposed clinic.
She also declined to name the owners of Medical Pain Relief and said they were unavailable for comment.
Arizona Corporation Commission records list the directors as William and Mary Kostrivas of Scottsdale.
Abbate said, however, her clients were "very excited and looking forward to being able to serve the community. These are good, hard-working, church-going people."
She added: "For the people of Casa Grande, there could not have been a better choice." They are also looking forward to serving "state-issued cardholders with medication," Abbate said.
Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne, in an opinion dated Aug. 6, however, said federal law bars the dispensaries because it preempts the state's Medical Marijuana Act. In an accompanying news release, Horne said the opinion is not binding as a court order. But he added: "We expect that there will be a motion for accelerated resolution of this issue in a pending court case."
A lawsuit has been filed by a dispensary that had been denied an application in Sun City. The law requires that applicants comply with local zoning ordinances, but Maricopa County provided no zoning for medical marijuana. Sun City is an unincorporated community in Maricopa County.
One applicant to lose out for Casa Grande was oncologist Dr. Donald Hill, part of two investor groups that applied for licenses in a half-dozen or so CHAAs.
"Today was a day of mixed blessings," Hill said on the phone. "Here in Casa Grande, where I live ... would have been the crown jewel."
In addition to losing out in Casa Grande, Hill and his partners lost the lottery for Eloy and Benson.
But he said one of his investor groups was selected for dispensaries in Sahuarita, northeast Tucson and Arivaca.
"A different investor group I was involved with nailed down the Coolidge CHAA and also Catalina," Hill said.
Horne's opinion complicates the situation, he said.
Abbate didn't disagree. Certification is one step along the way.
"There's still quite a lot of work to be done with the state," she said. As for the attorney general's opinion, "We're sort of watching that closely and seeing how that turns out."
DHS spokeswoman Laura Oxley said DHS would continue to implement the law "until there is a court order or an imminent threat of prosecution of DHS employees."
DHS originally received 12 applications for a dispensary in the Casa Grande CHAA.
"Eight of those didn't make the drawing, and it could have been that eight of those didn't have $150,000," Oxley said.
The law requires dispensary applicants to have a line on $150,000 for startup costs.
Casa Grande contractor John Wright and his group were among the eight. Wright had applied to the city to operate a cultivation facility and dispensary in an area zoned for industrial use.
"We as a group backed out," Wright said, adding – among other things – that the $200,000 needed for startup costs for both types of facilities was a barrier.
Hill agreed. Having skin in the game wasn't cheap.
"It took a boatload of money," he said.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: trivalleycentral.com
Author: Bill Coates
Contact: TriValley Central > Contact Us
Website: TriValley Central
