AZ Dispensaries Likely to Begin Cannabis Sales Before April

Marijuana became legal in Arizona on Nov 30, 2020, after the Secretary of State certified the voter-approved Proposition 207.

The new law will allow medical marijuana dispensaries to begin selling recreational marijuana on April 5, 2021, whether or not they are licensed by the state. This rule was created to force the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) to license qualifying dispensaries before April 5.

Industry insiders believe that Arizona dispensaries — which will be the only retail stores that will be legally permitted to sell marijuana — will be able to start selling marijuana sometime in March.

“Those licenses will be given to all of the existing medical marijuana dispensaries first,” attorney Tom Dean told KTAR News. “Those licenses will (probably) be issued around the end of March. Then, there are an additional 26 social equity licenses that will be issued at some point later in 2021.

The ADHS hasn’t clarified who exactly will qualify for the social equity licenses.

5 key Prop 207 rules:

– Allows adults 21 and older to purchase and possess up to 1 ounce of marijuana with no more than 5 grams being concentrates (extracts).

– Limits home cultivation to six cannabis plants per person’s primary residence and twelve plants at a residence where two or more persons 21 or older reside.

– Recreational marijuana dispensaries will be the only establishments that can legally sell marijuana.

– A 16% excise tax (similar to alcohol and tobacco) will be imposed on recreational cannabis sales. (Medical marijuana patients pay less tax on marijuana purchases.)

– Marijuana use is still illegal in public places, but is only a petty offence.

View more details about the new marijuana law.