Even if Arizona voters back recreational marijuana legalization on Nov. 3, cannabis advocates say business should not expect a wide-open cannabis market up for grabs in the Southwest state. Prop 207 – also called the Arizona Smart and Safe Act – would leave much of the industry rulemaking to the state’s Department of Health Services, which already oversees medical cannabis. Still, the initiative spells out certain parameters. For instance, the number of licenses would not be set in stone. Rather, the number of licenses would be tied to the number of pharmacies operating in Arizona as well as the locations of existing MMJ businesses. Prop 207 also calls for one vertically integrated marijuana company for every 10 pharmacies, and it allows for additional adult-use cannabis business licenses to be issued in any county that has fewer than two existing MMJ operators. However, at the same time, Proposition 207 would allow only the existing 130 vertically integrated medical marijuana companies, along with 26 new social equity businesses, to comprise Arizona’s entire plant-touching marijuana industry.
Marijuana Business Daily, 10/05/2020 06:30:24