![]() ![]() ![]() There is also an extensive set of rules and regulations in place that oversee everything from security and inventory, to pre-operation inspections and sales. Dispensary locations are chosen through a state lottery which currently allows only one dispensary to operate in each pre-determined Community Health Assessment Area, or CHAA. Their medical marijuana program is governed by the Arizona Department of Health Services. Despite our great efforts to operate Orange County’s Patient Care in a professional, honest, compassionate manner, the lack of rules and regulations for California medical marijuana providers ultimately groups the good businesses with the bad when city and county-wide crack downs take place.Īnd then you cross over state lines into Arizona, and it's a totally different picture.Īrizona's MMJ industry is just beginning to emerge in comparison to other states, like California, Colorado, and Washington. I am no stranger to this reality, as the dispensary I worked at and helped run for three years was shut down in May of 2013. The lack of regulatory framework and the pervasive use of the industry for profit and illicit means has once again left patients and providers in a post-crack down state of confusion, illegitimacy, and flat out risk. Although California was the first state in the country to legalize MMJ for medical purposes in 1996, the Golden State did anything but lead by a positive example. I explained to her the nature of California's ever-unreliable medical marijuana industry. Our discussion quickly focused on the state of the MMJ industries in our own states- mine being California, hers being Arizona. We dived straight into a conversation that would last an hour and would transpire as though we were already friends. Liesl, a beautiful, petite brunette, sat eating her lunch and despite the clear interruption I was causing, didn't hesitate to invite me to sit down and thanked me for coming by to meet with her. I thought, "Wow, these folks are friendly AND on-point." I had no idea how accurate this first impression was. No sooner was my sandaled right foot in the door than I was greeted by an energetic, focused, older gentleman donning a security badge-style name tag that read, "Bob." Bob quickly greeted me with a smile and upon telling him I was there to meet with Liesl, gracious escorted me to the cafe next door where she was lunching. A car soon left and I slipped into the open spot, gathered my notes (and my confidence), and headed into the shop. I was here to meet with Liesl Sicz, the general manager of Harvest of Tempe- possibly one of the most well-designed medical marijuana dispensaries in the Southwest. I waited for a shady parking spot to open up so that my gas-sipping Prius rental wouldn't feel too much like an oven when I returned to it. I pulled into a shopping center off of West Elliot Road in Tempe, AZ just before 3:30pm on a Wednesday and soon spotted the green "Harvest" sign above the suite I was there to visit. ![]()
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