In this July 13, 2014 article in the Sunday Arizona Republic on page A26 it sounds like Andrew Myers, the director of the Arizona Dispensaries Association wants to keep growing marijuana illegal to the general public so the medical marijuana dispensaries that he represents can have a monopoly on growing and selling marijuana. Which means they will be able to continue selling medical marijuana at the outrageously high price of $300+ an ounce.

If marijuana was 100% legal, without the government granting monopolies to grow and sell marijuana to special interest groups like the Arizona Dispensaries Association a pound of marijuana wouldn't cost any more then a pound of potatoes or tomatoes and would cost $2 a POUND or less.

Yea, sure a few snobs would continue to sell and smoke yuppie marijuana that cost $50 or more a POUND, but most of us normal people would smoke the $2 a pound stuff.

Of course if the Arizona Dispensaries Association gets their way it will be illegal for us folks on the street grow marijuana in our backyards and we will be forced to buy $300/oz marijuana from the members of the Arizona Dispensaries Association.

Here are two Andrew Myers quotes from the article:

"'The one thing that's the big hurdle for these guys right now is the continued presence of these illegal pot shops,' said Andrew Myers, executive director of the Arizona Dispensaries Association, an advocacy group for dispensary owners."

"'They're keeping prices artificially high at the (legal) dispensaries,' said Myers, adding that he estimated the city is losing out on $1 million annually on tax revenue in letting unlicensed dispensaries continue to operate. 'We're trying to get it from a code-enforcement standpoint.'"

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Source

Phoenix medical-marijuana dispensaries clear hurdles

Amy B Wang, The Republic | azcentral.com 10:43 p.m. MST July 12, 2014

Standing behind a long counter in a white lab coat, Lauren Anton is ready for the day, greeting customers as they were buzzed through a door. The sleek lighting, orange-and-chrome color scheme and zebra-print floors suggested a trendy coffee shop or frozen-yogurt bar.

Instead, Anton was busy running her family's business: TruMed, a medical-marijuana dispensary.

TruMed is one of the 10 state-licensed medical-marijuana dispensaries that have cropped up in Phoenix, nearly four years after Arizona voters passed the Medical Marijuana Act.

Many owners say it was a complicated process: They had to overcome strict zoning requirements, hefty legal and registration fees, an oft-wary public perception of medical marijuana and, now, competition from illegal dispensaries.

"It's a difficult industry," said Anton, who faced questions from relatives and friends when she started the process of opening TruMed three years ago, along with her father, brother and friend. Still, as a former oncology nurse who said she saw firsthand the benefits of medical marijuana, Anton and her family proceeded.

Most of Phoenix's state-licensed dispensaries give off a modern, urban-industrial feel. Orange seems to be the accent color of choice. Other similarities include heightened security — bank teller-like windows where patients pick up their marijuana and private guards — and strict hours. Per city regulations, all Phoenix dispensaries must open after 8 a.m. and close by 7 p.m.

At TruMed, the receptionist sits behind bulletproof glass, monitoring 16 video-camera feeds on a flat-screen TV. There is a security guard on site seven days a week.

Though they pre-emptively put heavy security in place, they have had no problems with crime since opening in August, said Bill Anton, Lauren's father and a co-owner of TruMed. He pointed out the customers who had visited in the last half-hour: Two people were in wheelchairs. A few others were middle-age men and women made small talk with the staff, then left after picking up their orders.

"I think the main reason is the people are not the crazy, low-life potheads many people envisioned," Bill Anton said. "We're not getting riffraff ... who just want to get high around here. They have legitimate reasons. They're responsible. They're upscale, professional people."

Voters in 2010 passed the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act to allow people with certain debilitating medical conditions, including chronic pain, cancer and muscle spasms, to use medical marijuana. Since then, the state has approved about 50,000 Arizonans to participate in the program. The overwhelming majority cite severe and chronic pain as a debilitating medical condition.

The state limited one dispensary for each of its 126 "community health analysis areas," regions state health officials had previously used to monitor cancer reports.

Phoenix is home to 15 such areas, and four more straddle the city's boundaries. Within those areas are the 10 state-licensed medical-marijuana dispensaries in Phoenix proper.

From the start, cities and counties across the state imposed strict zoning requirements. By law, medical-marijuana dispensaries in Phoenix must be at least 1,320 feet away from all schools, churches and parks, requirements that quickly whittled down the number of eligible buildings in any health area.

"The biggest challenge early on was certainly the real-estate issue," said Kurt Merschman, an attorney who represents several Valley dispensaries. "You had, first of all, specific zoning in the city of Phoenix where you could and could not locate these dispensaries. And then you oftentimes had neighbors and citizens that probably were irrationally afraid of the use."

Last year, the owners of Urban Greenhouse staked out three suites in a central Phoenix shopping center. Each one had a minor flaw: The south suite fell too close to Brophy College Preparatory by about 10 feet and would have required a variance to open in a school zone. The central and north suites were just far enough away from area schools, but would have required a variance to open in a residential zone.

Still, the suites seemed the best options, and co-owners Brett Carr, William Gibbs and Jeff Cooper went about trying to reassure the neighbors about a potential dispensary opening near them. They set up an open house for all three suites, complete with (marijuana-free) snacks, binders of detailed renderings and a security guard.

Despite their efforts, the city denied their requests for variances because of resident opposition. After scrambling to find a new location, they opened Urban Greenhouse at 27th Avenue and Indian School Road.

Their story is similar for many dispensary owners. Even after overcoming the real-estate hurdle, many owners find the high-overhead medical-marijuana business does not bring in as much green as they had anticipated.

Dispensary owners must pay a $500 annual agent-card fee to the state for each employee. In addition, the actual product is not grown at any dispensaries because Phoenix requires the cultivation take place in an industrial or agricultural zone.

This means owners usually must pay to maintain two separate sites.

"The regulation has been burdensome, and the cost of getting their cultivations open have been more than people anticipated," Merschmann said. "It is a competitive business and there is a limited number of customers in the state, and so all of the dispensaries are fighting for those patients. It's just like any other retail environment where you're competitive on services, on price and location, location, location."

But by far the biggest challenge, owners say, is the continued presence of "compassion clubs," facilities that dispense medical marijuana without a state license. [Does this have anything to do with Rain & John being raided by the Phoenix Police???]

"The one thing that's the big hurdle for these guys right now is the continued presence of these illegal pot shops," said Andrew Myers, executive director of the Arizona Dispensaries Association, an advocacy group for dispensary owners.

To add to the confusion, some illegal dispensaries have signs that tell customers they must have a state-licensed medical-marijuana patient card. Both legal and illegal dispensaries appear on websites like Leafly.com and Weedmaps.com, which function as Yelp-like review boards for marijuana dispensaries.

"It's confusing by design," Myers said. [Hmmm Didn't Andrew Myers write Prop 203 which was passed by the voters and now is Arizona's Medical Marijuana Act]

To make it more complicated, state law prohibits the Arizona Department of Health Services from releasing any information — names, addresses, operating hours — about dispensaries, even if they are licensed. Though the state law names only the health department, many cities have interpreted it to apply to them as well.

In June, Phoenix police shut down Green Thumb Academy, at Seventh Street and Virginia Avenue, one of the dozens of dispensaries operating in the city without a license. Myers said the association is working with police and Phoenix officials to close more of the unlicensed dispensaries.

"They're keeping prices artificially high at the (legal) dispensaries," said Myers, adding that he estimated the city is losing out on $1 million annually on tax revenue in letting unlicensed dispensaries continue to operate. "We're trying to get it from a code-enforcement standpoint." [Yea, like Andrew Myers wants pot to sell for $2 a pound??? Andrew Myers was quoted at the Phoenix NORML July 1, 2014 meeting saying something like "once the free market kicks in medical marijuana should drop to a measly $200 and ounce down from it's current price of about $300 and ounce!!!!]

Initial fears that the state-licensed dispensaries would bring with them sharp upticks in illegal activity seem not to have materialized, according to the Phoenix Police Department.

"As far as robberies, no one's aware of any of those being issues at any of the legal dispensaries," police spokesman Steve Martos said. "The ones that are doing it legally, they have actually invested a lot money in their facilities but also their security and everything else. They really don't want to lose their money.

"If something goes wrong, they're likely to lose a lot of their investment. ... The illegal ones, they're likely the ones creating more of a situation for us."

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Phoenix medical-marijuana dispensaries

Ten state-licensed medical marijuana dispensaries that have cropped up in Phoenix. Here's a breakdown:

14 S. 41st Place

Bloom

What's unique: A stone's throw from the 44th Street PHX Sky Train station, this dispensary is right off the light-rail line. It offers a rewards program, daily deals and merchandise, and discounts for referring friends.

2620 W. Encanto Blvd.

Encanto Green Cross

What's unique: The dispensary hosts ladies' day every Thursday, where women who purchase an eighth of a gram or more can spin a wheel for a chance to win a prize. Prizes include a free gram of product, a free prerolled joint and dispensary gift certificates.

21035 N. Cave Creek Road

The Holistic Center

What's unique: The dispensary uses a mascot to connect with its patients and let them know about current discounts, deals and other dispensary news. Ringo, a ring-tailed cat, can be found in many of its advertisements.

4126 W. Indian School Road

Herbal Wellness Center

What's unique: Operations manager Long Nguyen estimates the dispensary donated between $3,000 and $5,000 to the families of Phoenix Police Department detectives Albert J. Casados and John Hobbs, who were gunned down in early March.

10040 N. Metro Parkway W.

Horizon - The Health Center

What's unique: Jim Brown says the company has shifted much of the community's stance on having the location at the Metrocenter Mall. The Metro Business Alliance and Metro community Block Watch, Brown said, both originally opposed the business, but have since become supportive.

2439 W. McDowell Road

Nature's AZ Medicines

What's unique: An interior decorator gave the dispensary's lobby a "modern apothecary" theme, dispensary licensee Mark Steinmetz said. The location also features bank-like security, with bulletproof windows and two doors that guests must be buzzed in through before reaching the lobby.

4201 E. University Drive

Patient Alternative Relief Center

What's unique: Each month, the center has a fundraiser to give back to a local charity, such as Arizona State University's Students for Sensible Drug Policy.

6330 S. 35th Ave., Suite 104

Phoenix Relief Center

What's unique: Every Saturday the dispensary chooses a pound of its product to sell at half price. The discount, director Patrick Romo said, is meant to provide a month's worth of treatment to patients who can't always afford to buy an ounce at full price.

1613 N. 40th St.

TruMed

What's unique: This is a family business helmed by Lauren Anton, a former oncology nurse. Unlike many other dispensaries composed of several partitioned rooms, TruMed has an open plan and feel. The building is a former tire shop.

2630 W. Indian School Road

Urban Greenhouse

What's unique: Urban Greenhouse has weekly specials, a rewards program and a series of blog posts and quirky YouTube videos that try to educate people about the dispensary and medical marijuana. (One recent blog post: "Do mangos make marijuana more magical?")

Article about medical marijuana dispensaries in Arizona

More on Andrew Myers

see this url:


http://arizona-concealed-carry.tripod.com/andrew_myers_dispensaries.html

Also see

http://arizona-concealed-carry.tripod.com/a99993.html

and check out the links about the July 1, 2014 Phoenix NORML meeting and the July 2, PCC meeting

Here is a video of the July 1, 2014 Phoenix NORML meeting were Andrew Meyers or is that Andrew Myers who is the director of the Arizona Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Association gives the impression that he only wants medical marijuana dispensaries to be able to grow medical marijuana.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PQZ3AUN41uw

We suspect that Andrew Myers would love to have the medical marijuana dispensaries he represents have a government monopoly on growing marijuana so they can continue to sell marijuana to the public at rip off prices of $300 an ounce.

If marijuana was legal and the government was not involved in granting government monopolies to groups like Andrew Myers Arizona Association of Dispensaries then a pound of marijuana wouldn't cost any more then a pound of tomatoes or potatoes.

Yea, sure some stuck up snobs would still smoke they yuppies $50 a pound marijuana but most of us normal folks would smoke the $2 a pound stuff.

Andrew Myers wrote Prop 203, which is Arizona's Medical Marijuana Act and now with 20/20 hindsight it looks like he wrote Prop 203 with the intention of give himself and the folks at the Arizona Dispensary Association a license to rip off the other marijuana users in Arizona.

Crews quickly contain marijuana dispensary fire

Didn't Andrew Myers say one of the reasons for limiting growing of marijuana by medical marijuana patients was to prevent fires in grow houses. Andrew Myers wrote Prop 203 which is Arizona's Medical Marijuana Act.

And then he seemed to want to used that excuse to prevent the public from growing recreational marijuana when it's legalized.

Of course Andrew Myers is the director of the Arizona Dispensary Association and we suspect the reason reason he wants to prevent the public from growing their own marijuana is so that members of the Arizona Medical Marijuana Dispensary Association can continue selling their marijuana at rip off prices of $300 and ounce to the general public.

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2014/07/15/phoenix-marijuna-dispensary-fire-abrk/12661501/

Crews quickly contain marijuana dispensary fire

Katie Bieri, The Republic | azcentral.com 10:19 p.m. MST July 14, 2014

Crews with the Phoenix Fire Department were working to contain a fire at a local marijuana dispensary Monday night, a fire official said.

The fire broke out around 9:30 p.m. in the Phoenix building on Encanto Boulevard off of Interstate 17.

Phoenix Fire Department Captain Benjamin Santillan confirmed that the fire was caused by a busted light bulb. A carport also caught on fire in the incident.

Santillan said crews worked quickly and only 10 to 15 marijuana plants were damaged.

The Illinois Medical Marijuana Act is one of the few that I have seen that is worse then the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act.

The Illinois Act was written by politicians, I suspect to shake down medical marijuana patients for money to go to the state of Illinois. And of course to create jobs and pork for special interest groups in Illinois.

Here in Arizona, our Medical Marijuana Act or Prop 203 was written by Andrew Myers. Prop 203 looks like it was written to be a government welfare program for medical marijuana dispensaries. And oddly Andrew Meyers turns out to be the director of the Arizona Dispensaries Association or is that the Arizona Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Association.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-lawmakers-expected-to-finalize-medical-pot-rules-today-20140715,0,3469973.story

Lawmakers expected to finalize medical pot rules today

By Robert McCoppin Tribune reporter

8:26 a.m. CDT, July 15, 2014

Lawmakers are expected to finalize rules for medical marijuana in Illinois today, allowing people to start applying to be legal users as soon as September, officials said.

Interested patients should start talking to their doctors now about qualifying for the drug, Illinois Department of Revenue spokeswoman Sue Hofer said. If the industry develops in Illinois as expected, patients likely would be able to buy their first ounces of legal “weed” by the spring of next year.

The rules governing how medical marijuana can be grown, sold and used were proposed this spring by the state agencies involved in overseeing agriculture, financial and professional regulations, health and revenue.

State Sen. Don Harmon, the co-chairman of the legislative panel that will make the final review of the rules, State Sen. Don Harmon, said he did not expect any major changes changes when the current draft of the rules goes before the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules.

“Other than some minor refinements, I’m not aware of any need for dramatic action,” he said.

People may qualify to obtain marijuana for medicinal use if they have a doctor’s diagnosis for one of about three dozen specified medical conditions, such as cancer, HIV, Crohn’s disease, lupus and multiple sclerosis. There is not a general provision to treat pain, which is a popular qualifying condition elsewhere, but complex regional pain syndrome is one qualifying condition.

Like prospective owners and employees of medical marijuana businesses, patients must submit fingerprints for a background check.

Members of the Marijuana Policy Project, which lobbies to end marijuana prohibition, estimated Illinois will have about 10,000 qualified patients, based on the experience in other states. Illinois has one of the most restrictive medical marijuana laws in the country, but has one of the largest populations among states with medical marijuana laws.

The pro-marijuana group continues to protest what it says are high fees proposed for starting a medical marijuana business in Illinois, such as $200,000 for a license to grow the crop, and a $2 million surety bond. Ultimately, patients will have to pay those fees, legislative analyst Chris Lindsey said.

“That’s ludicrous,” Lindsey said. “It’s simply a way to close the door on small and medium-sized businesses.”

State officials have said high entry fees are needed to ensure that business operators have enough capital to start and maintain a complex business.

Licensing fees for the 21 cultivation centers and 60 dispensaries would generate up to $6 million to be used to implement the program, according to the rules and the governor’s office.

Should Kathy Lane Inman resign from Arizona NORML???

Billy Hayes thinks so!!!!

Source

Why I am calling for the immediate resignation of the Director of Norml in Arizona; Kathy Lane Inman. For Billy Hayes reason check out this link

If you think Kathy Lane Inman should resign you should contact NORML

NORML and the NORML Foundation
1100 H Street, NW
Suite 830
Washington, DC 20005

Phone: (202) 483-5500

Fax: (202) 483-0057 Email NORML

General Inquiries: norml@norml.org

The NORML Foundation: foundation@norml.org

NORML Director: director@norml.org

Let's face it the "war on drugs" is nothing more then a jobs program for cops.

http://la.indymedia.org/news/2014/07/264832.php

It would never get that cheap, because pot is basically a dried flower. The flower, wet, doesn't weigh much, and dried weighs even less. One plant produces In contrast, a tomato is a fruit that's mostly water, and one plant produces a few pounds of fruit. A plant produces maybe a pound of usable wet product, and less indoors.

That said, the price could drop down pretty low. Saffron, one of the expensive spices, the stamen of a flower, costs $6 per gram.

But here's the thing - you don't want prices too low. You want them high enough to pay solid wages with benefits to all the people involved in growing pot.