The Director of the Arizona Department of Health Services said the following on July 26, 2013:

“We’ve issued 61 medical marijuana dispensary operating licenses so far with only 2 weeks left on the 52 week time-clock.  We have 21 more inspections scheduled between now and August 6, which is the deadline for Registration Certificate holders to get their Approval to Operate License so they can renew their Certificate (a 1-year timeframe).   The biggest hang up with the remaining certificate holders seems to be their city occupancy approval (we don’t give operating licenses without a certificate of occupancy from their local jurisdiction).

I was a witness in court a couple of times last week testifying in a case in which the Plaintiffs argue that our requirement that Registration Certificate holders (the lottery winners) get their Approval to Operate within 1 year is unreasonable.  Under our regulations, the Approval to Operate is required in order to renew a Registration Certificate.  Of course, there’s more to the lawsuit than that- but that’s a core issue.

We’re awaiting the Superior Court Judge’s ruling in the next week or so.  We expect the ruling to provide some clarity about whether and how we’ll proceed when it comes to renewing Registration Certificates.  The decision may also influence the timeline for the “second round” issuance of Certificates.”