The deadline for applications into what could be Arizona’s last round of marijuana dispensary licenses ends Tuesday night, Dec. 14, according to a spokesman for the state's health agency. The deadline comes even as the state faces lawsuits challenging the legality of the program.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Randall Warner decided to allow the state to accept applications while hearing arguments from plaintiffs to suspend and start from scratch the state's plan to issue 26 licenses sometime next year.
Applicants to Arizona’s “social equity ownership program” — that was passed as part of Prop. 207 and is aimed at “people from communities disproportionately impacted by the enforcement of previous marijuana laws” — have until just before midnight Tuesday to apply.
Potential applicants still looking to submit their applications can do so through the Arizona Department of Health's Facility Licensing Portal.
The Tuesday deadline has some applicants upset, especially against the state, key political figures and AZDHS. One of those people upset, Zsa Zsa Simone Brown, is a local cannabis entrepreneur and member of Acre41, a collection of black female entrepreneurs focused on expanding access to Arizona’s burgeoning marijuana industry and who are party to the lawsuit against AZDHS working its way through the courts.
"I am not happy that Tuesday is the deadline," Simone Brown said. "I don't think that the applications should have even been accepted."
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Simone Brown noted that a preliminary hearing for her group's lawsuit is scheduled for Jan. 28, however, lawyers for AZDHS have filed a request for dismissal that's yet to be ruled on.
Another group of potential applicants, a group called Black Seed, sued Nov. 24 on similar grounds.
