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Judge opens door for first two marijuana dispensaries

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A court ruling earlier this month paved the way for the first medical marijuana dispensaries to open in Arizona.

Dispensaries waiting to open around the state have been on hold pending numerous lawsuits from local and county officials attempting to fight Arizona’s Proposition 203, the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act, which voters passed in 2010.

However, a ruling by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Michael D. Gordon on Dec. 3 definitively ruled in favor of a dispensary owner, paving the way for dispensaries to open across Arizona.

“In Judge Gordon’s ruling, he recognized that there is disagreement with his analysis,” Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk said. “I have been told that the parties to the litigation — the Arizona attorney general and the Maricopa County attorney — will appeal the ruling by Judge Gordon, and have asked him for a stay of his order.” Despite the possible appeal, Southern Arizona Integrated Therapies opened the next day in Tucson and started dispensing marijuana to legal card holders Tuesday, Dec. 11. Arizona Organix opened Dec. 6 and immediately began legally selling marijuana to customers in Glendale.

When a dispensary will open in the Verde Valley is unclear. One will be permitted in Sedona’s Community Health Analysis Area while another will be permitted in an area that includes the rest of the Verde Valley. Only one license is issued per analysis area, determined by a lottery if there was more than one applicant per area.

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For the full story, see the Wednesday, Dec. 19, edition of The Camp Verde Journal or the Cottonwood Journal Extra.

 

Christopher Fox Graham

Christopher Fox Graham is the managing editor of the Sedona Rock Rocks News, The Camp Verde Journal and the Cottonwood Journal Extra. Hired by Larson Newspapers as a copy editor in 2004, he became assistant manager editor in October 2009 and managing editor in August 2013. Graham has won awards for editorials, investigative news reporting, headline writing, page design and community service from the Arizona Newspapers Association. Graham has also been featured in Editor & Publisher magazine. He lectures on journalism and First Amendment law and is a nationally recognized performance aka slam poet. Retired U.S. Army Col. John Mills, former director of Cybersecurity Policy, Strategy, and International Affairs referred to him as "Mr. Slam Poet." In January 2025, the International Astronomical Union formally named asteroid 29722 Chrisgraham (1999 AQ23) in his honor at the behest of Lowell Observatory, citing him as "an American journalist and longtime managing editor of Sedona Red Rock News. He is a nationally-recognized slam poet who has written and performed multiple poems about Pluto and other space themes."

Christopher Fox Graham
Christopher Fox Graham
Christopher Fox Graham is the managing editor of the Sedona Rock Rocks News, The Camp Verde Journal and the Cottonwood Journal Extra. Hired by Larson Newspapers as a copy editor in 2004, he became assistant manager editor in October 2009 and managing editor in August 2013. Graham has won awards for editorials, investigative news reporting, headline writing, page design and community service from the Arizona Newspapers Association. Graham has also been featured in Editor & Publisher magazine. He lectures on journalism and First Amendment law and is a nationally recognized performance aka slam poet. Retired U.S. Army Col. John Mills, former director of Cybersecurity Policy, Strategy, and International Affairs referred to him as "Mr. Slam Poet." In January 2025, the International Astronomical Union formally named asteroid 29722 Chrisgraham (1999 AQ23) in his honor at the behest of Lowell Observatory, citing him as "an American journalist and longtime managing editor of Sedona Red Rock News. He is a nationally-recognized slam poet who has written and performed multiple poems about Pluto and other space themes."

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