Uncle Herb's medical-marijuana dispensary, tucked away near pine trees in an industrial area of south Payson, has the homey feel of a country store. Red brick and wood trim accent the interior. T-shirts and other products hang in a gift area near the two bars displaying pale green cannabis buds in glass cake stands. The small commercial kitchen, visible from the bud-tending area through a large window, is modern. So is the kitchen's special helper - a six-foot-tall collection of stainless-steel canisters, flexible hoses, and gauges that the staff calls "Wall-E."

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A national marijuana-advocacy group has announced that it will push to ask Arizona voters in 2016 if they want to legalize pot for adult recreational use.

A grass-roots effort, led by a Phoenix man, would ask voters to amend the state Constitution to allow people age 18 and older "to consume or possess limited amounts" of marijuana. But the local effort has largely been discounted by the political establishment because it lacks major financial backing.

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Medical Operators Fear Being Undercut by Recreational Use

Medical-marijuana dispensary operators are apprehensive about plans by a powerful marijuana-advocacy group to campaign for full legalization of the drug in Arizona.

The Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that advocates marijuana legalization and regulation, is a former ally of the dispensary owners, having played a key financial and public-relations role in passage of the state law that created the burgeoning medical-marijuana program.

Bolstered by the Obama administration's announcement that it will not challenge such laws, the group intends to pursue full legalization in Arizona through a voter initiative in 2016 and in nine other states over the next two election cycles. The initiative will be modeled on a program in Colorado, which has legalized marijuana for recreational use.

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Let's not let Arizona's Medical Marijuana Act get in the way of the "War on Drugs", which is basically a full employment jobs program for cops. Proposition 203 clearly says that ALL forms are marijuana, which includes concentrated forms of pot like hashish and hash oil are legal for medical marijuana patients: "ARS 36-2801.7 'Marijuana' means all parts of any plant of the genus cannabis."

But despite that the cops are falsely arresting medical marijuana patients who use concentrated forms of marijuana like hashish and hash oil and charging them with possession of CANNABIS, which the cops say ISN'T marijuana.

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Nearly three years after Arizona voters narrowly approved the concept, medical marijuana has come to Mesa.

Giving Tree Wellness Center opened in late June at 938 E. Juanita Ave., just the sort of industrial-park setting that the City Council envisioned two years ago when it approved zoning restrictions for such businesses.

It is Giving Tree's second facility in the Valley; the other is in north Phoenix.

Both are under the medical direction of Dr. Gina Berman, an emergency-room physician who believes traditional Western medicine can go only so far in helping some patients.

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After Tuesday's state lottery for medical marijuana dispensaries, the application for a Sahuarita location appears to be the only one alive in the area, and the applicant said he is looking forward to opening up.

However, there is no clear timetable for future developments because the state has not actually approved any dispensaries yet. The lottery simply winnowed the list to one applicant in each health planning area. No one applied for the Green Valley planning area.

An applicant was chosen in a larger health planning area known as Continental that includes part of Sahuarita east of Nogales Highway, but that location appears to be in Tucson. The Arizona Department of Health Services does not release addresses for dispensary applications, but applicants must obtain zoning approval from cities, towns or counties, and those records are public.

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Mesa in line for 4; one district has no eligible sites

Mesa will find out this week who will be authorized to operate the four medical-marijuana dispensaries likely to set up shop in the city.

The Arizona Department of Health Services will conduct a lottery on Tuesday to choose from the scores of applicants vying for the business of people legally authorized to use marijuana.

Mesa has five of Arizona's 126 so-called community health analysis areas, each of which is authorized to have one dispensary.

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Ahwatukee Has Only 1 Applicant

Ahwatukee will learn next week whether its only applicant for a medical-marijuana dispensary license will be authorized to set up shop.

For most of Arizona's 126 so-called community health analysis areas, multiple applicants are seeking state permission to sell marijuana for treatment of medical conditions.

The Arizona Department of Health Services will conduct a lottery for those zones on Tuesday.

Ahwatukee, which is among several zones in Phoenix, had only one dispensary application.

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Arizona health officials are considering adding post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety and migraines as qualifying conditions to use medical marijuana. Department of Health Services Director Will Humble is expected to decide this week.

Voters approved Proposition 203 in November 2010, and it went in effect in April 2011.

Under the law, individuals can use marijuana to treat debilitating medical conditions, including cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, Lou Gehrig's disease, Crohn's disease or Alzheimer's disease.

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Medical-marjiuana dispensaries will have to employ a medical director at their operations, as state health officials require, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge has ruled. The non-profits could begin opening this summer.

Judge Richard Gama's May 1 decision is an important one because it could prevent abuse of medical marijuana, said Will Humble, director of the Arizona Department of Health Services.

"This is a really important component of the program because without it, over time, it would've evolved into each dispensary just moving product," Humble said.

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Could Locate in City As Soon As Summer

Former state attempts to prohibit the licensing of medical marijuana dispensaries are expected to stop, giving the green light to those looking to set up shop.

"The Department of Health has announced the state isn't going to file anymore appeals," Growth Management Director Alton Bruce said. This decision looks to directly impact Coolidge, as four separate parties have already expressed interest in a city location.

"Three of whom identified locations in the Safeway plaza," he added, explaining that each will be required to submit a competing application. "It will only be one that is licensed (by the state)."

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Arizona officials will not appeal last week's judicial ruling that the state must allow medical-marijuana dispensaries and cannot restrict who operates them based on where they live or their financial history.

Judge Richard Gama's decision broadened the pool of potential dispensary owners and cleared the way for the state's medical-pot industry. The only remaining question was whether state officials would challenge the ruling.

Will Humble, director of the state's health department, on Tuesday said his department will begin accepting applications sometime this year. The state anticipates licensing up to 125 dispensaries.

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A U.S. District Court judge Wednesday dismissed Arizona's lawsuit seeking to clarify whether its voter-approved medical-marijuana law trumps federal drug laws.

In an unusual legal request, Gov. Jan Brewer had asked the court to mediate the conflict between state and federal drug laws. But Judge Susan Bolton tossed the suit, saying the state couldn't show its workers were at risk of federal prosecution for following Proposition 203, or even if it intended to fully implement the law.

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Gov. Jan Brewer is a champion of states' rights.

Except when she's not.

Like, for instance, when it comes to defending a citizen-approved proposition authorizing dispensaries for medical marijuana.

(Feel free to insert your favorite marijuana-pun headline here: "States' rights claim goes up in smoke." Or "... goes to pot." Or the more subtle "Jan backs away from Mary Jane." Or a stoner favorite like, "Doobie-ous support for states' rights.")

Brewer, Attorney General Tom Horne and others were against the medical-marijuana proposition, but voters approved it anyway.

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