What is the topic of conversation in the Arizona cannabis industry?
All the buzz is about the “county backfill licenses”; one of the only new available dispensary opportunities. As we know, existing medicinal marijuana dispensaries are hurrying to switch over to adult-use or dual use. Those who have, get more, if you have a problem with this see your legislator. So FYI, before the social equity licenses come into play later this year (see mita-az.org), there are a number of county backfill licenses available.
What is a county backfill license?
An adult-use dispensary that will be placed into a county that has less than two medical marijuana dispensaries. The Arizona Department of Health Services has recently released an updated list of where those licenses will be issued. Here is the table from AZDHS. The final rules are being drafted but some important notes you have to show 500k in liquid capital and pay 25k per application so don’t get too excited.
Counties With Less Than Two Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
***Please Note: The information in the table below was updated on January 12, 2021 and is subject to change.
| County | # of Dispensaries |
|---|---|
| Apache | 0 |
| Cochise | 1 |
| Gila | 1 |
| Graham | 1 |
| Greenlee | 0 |
| La Paz | 0 |
| Santa Cruz | 0 |
| Yuma | 1 |