A. The Department shall review dispensary registration certificate applications and issue dispensary registration certificates according to the requirements in R9-17-107 and R9-17-302.
B. Except as provided in subsection (C), the Department shall assign only one dispensary registration certificate allocation for each CHAA.
C. A city or town that contains more than one CHAA may request the reassignment of a dispensary registration certificate allocation from one CHAA to another CHAA under the jurisdiction of the city or town by submitting a written request to the Department by June 1, 2011 that contains:
1. The CHAAs involved in the reassignment,
2. The reassignment requested, and
3. The signature of the individual authorized to submit the request;
D. The Department shall accept dispensary registration certificate applications for 30 calendar days beginning June 1, 2011.
E. If the Department receives:
1. Only one dispensary registration certificate application for a dispensary located in a CHAA that the Department determines is complete and is in compliance with A.R.S. Title 36, Chapter 28.1 and this Chapter by 60 calendar days after June 1, 2011, the Department shall allocate the dispensary registration certificate for the CHAA to that applicant; or
2. More than one dispensary registration certificate application for a dispensary located in a CHAA that the Department determines are complete and are in compliance with A.R.S. Title 36, Chapter 28.1 and this Chapter by 60 calendar days after June 1, 2011, the Department shall allocate a dispensary registration certificate according to R9-17-302.
F. In May of each calendar year beginning in May, 2012, the Department shall review current valid dispensary registration certificates to determine if the Department may issue additional dispensary registration certificates pursuant to A.R.S. § 36-2804(C).
1. If the Department determines that the Department may issue additional dispensary registration certificates, the Department shall post the information that the Department is accepting dispensary registration certificate applications on the Department’s website, including the deadline for accepting dispensary registration certificate applications.
a. The Department shall post the information in subsection (F)(1) by the last working day of the month.
b. The deadline for submission of dispensary registration certificate applications is 30 calendar days after the date of posting in subsection (F)(1)(a).
c. Sixty calendar days after the date of posting in subsection (F)(1)(a), the Department shall determine if the Department received more dispensary registration certificate applications that are complete and in compliance with A.R.S. Title 36, Chapter 28.1 and this Chapter than the Department is allowed to issue.
i. If the Department received more dispensary registration certificates applications than the Department is allowed to issue, the Department shall allocate any available dispensary registration certificates according to the priorities established in subsection (G).
ii. If the Department is allowed to issue a dispensary registration certificate for each dispensary registration certificate application the Department received, the Department shall allocate the dispensary registration certificates to those applicants.
2. If the Department determines that the Department is not allowed to issue additional dispensary registration certificates, the Department shall, on the Department’s website:
a. Post the information that the Department is not accepting dispensary registration certificate applications, and
b. Maintain the information until the next review.
G. Beginning in May, 2012, if the Department receives more dispensary registration certificate applications that are complete and in compliance with A.R.S. Title 36, Chapter 28.1 and this Chapter than the Department is allowed to issue, the Department shall allocate the dispensary registration certificates according to the following criteria:
1. If dispensary registration certificate applications are received for a county that does not contain a dispensary:
a. If only one dispensary registration certificate application for a dispensary located in the county is received by 60 calendar days after the Department posted the notice in subsection (F)(1)(a), the Department shall allocate the dispensary registration certificate to that applicant; or
b. If the Department receives more than one dispensary registration certificate application for a dispensary located in the county by 60 calendar days after the Department posted the notice in subsection (F)(1)(a), the Department shall prioritize and allocate a dispensary registration certificate to an applicant whose proposed dispensary location will provide dispensary services to the most qualifying patients based on:
i. The number of registry identification cards issued to qualifying patients who reside within 10 miles of the applicant’s proposed dispensary location, and
ii. The number of dispensaries operating within 10 miles of the applicant’s proposed dispensary location;
2. If there are additional dispensary registration certificates available after dispensary registration certificates are allocated according to subsection (G)(1), and if dispensary registration certificate applications are received for a location in a CHAA that does not contain a dispensary and whose dispensary registration certificate has not been reassigned under subsection (C), the Department shall assign and allocation the dispensary registration certificates as follows:
a. If the Department receives dispensary registration certificate applications for a dispensary in more CHAAs, that do not contain a dispensary and whose dispensary registration certificate have not been reassigned under subsection (C), than there are dispensary registration certificates available, the Department shall prioritize and assign a dispensary registration certificate allocation to a CHAA based on which CHAA has the most registry identification cards issued to qualifying patients who reside within the CHAA;
b. If only one dispensary registration certificate application for a dispensary located in the CHAA is received by 60 calendar days after the Department posted the notice in subsection (F)(1)(a), the Department shall allocate the dispensary registration certificate to that applicant; or
c. If the Department receives more than one dispensary registration certificate application for a dispensary located in the CHAA by 60 calendar days after the Department posted the notice in subsection (F)(1)(a), shall prioritize and allocate dispensary registration certificates to an applicant whose proposed dispensary location will provide dispensary services to the most qualifying patients based on:
i. The number of registry identification cards issued to qualifying patients who reside within 10 miles of the applicant’s proposed dispensary location; and
ii. The number of dispensaries operating within 10 miles of the applicant’s proposed dispensary location;
3. If there are additional dispensary registration certificates available after dispensary registration certificates are allocated according to subsections (G)(1) and (G)(2), for all dispensary registration certificate applications not allocated a dispensary registration certificate pursuant to subsections (G)(1) and (G)(2) and any other dispensary registration certificate applications received by 60 calendar days after the Department posted the notice in subsection (F)(1)(a), the Department shall prioritize and allocate a dispensary registration certificate to an applicant whose proposed dispensary location will provide dispensary services to the most qualifying patients based on:
a. The number of registry identification cards issued to qualifying patients who reside within 10 miles of the applicant’s proposed dispensary location; and
b. The number of dispensaries operating within 10 miles of the applicant’s proposed dispensary location; and
4. If there is a tie or a margin of 0.1% or less in the scores generated by applying the criteria in subsection (G), the Department shall randomly select one dispensary registration application and allocate a dispensary registration certificate to that applicant.
H. For purposes of subsection (G), “10 miles” includes the area contained within a circle that extends for 10 miles in all directions from a specific location.
I. If the Department does not allocate a dispensary registration certificate to an applicant that had submitted a dispensary registration certificate application that the Department determined was complete and in compliance with A.R.S. Title 36, Chapter 28.1 and this Chapter, the Department shall:
1. Provide a written notice to the applicant that states that although the applicant’s dispensary registration certificate application was complete and complied with A.R.S. Title 36, Chapter 28.1 and this Chapter, the Department did not allocate the applicant a dispensary registration certificate under the processes in R9-17-302 and this Section; and
2. Return $1,000 of the application fee to the applicant.
J. If the Department receives a dispensary registration certificate application at a time other than the time stated in subsections (D) or (F), the Department shall return the dispensary registration certificate application, including the application fee, to the entity who submitted the dispensary registration certificate application.
This is an unofficial version of the Medical Marijuana Program rules. At this time, ADHS does not anticipate making substantive changes to these rules before they are filed with the Office of the Secretary of State. However, technical, organizational, and grammatical changes may be made. The official copy will be posted on www.azsos.gov when filed.
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