Arizona: legal cannabis sales begin, ahead of schedule

Arizona began retail sales of cannabis last Friday, less than three months after voting to legalize on the legal age for alcohol consumption during last November's election.

73 dispensaries, which were already operating as medical cannabis dispensaries, have been given the green light to begin selling to adults. They account for more than half of the cannabis stores across the state. The other dispensaries that have applied for permission to sell to adults are expected to be authorized shortly.

«Historically speaking, this is huge,» said Pankaj Talwar, CEO of four Sol Flower dispensaries in the Phoenix area. «We’re already one of the strongest [medical cannabis] markets in the country, and this will only make things stronger.»

While Nevada, California, Maine, and Massachusetts had legalized cannabis in 2016, Arizona had come up just short. The 2020 election turned out to be the one. Proposition 207, Safe and Smart Act, was adopted by a margin of more than 60%.

Proposition 207 legalized the possession of one ounce (28 grams) of cannabis flower or five grams of THC concentrate for adults aged 21 and older. The state has added a 16% excise tax on retail sales, which will fund public safety, public health programs, community colleges, and infrastructure projects.

The law also allows adults to grow up to six cannabis plants at home.

A Surprise Opening

Legal cannabis sales were expected to begin on April 20, reference date for cannabis users. Instead, health department officials announced last Tuesday, to everyone’s surprise, that they were accepting applications for recreational cannabis distribution from medical dispensaries, which simply had to submit a few fingerprints and a check for 25,000 $.

«That's what made it go so fast,» he explained a spokesperson for the’Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS). «We were already familiar with these operators and had information about their companies. So it was fairly transparent.»

Consumers were therefore also taken by surprise and quickly began flocking to dispensaries by the dozens. The influx of customers created lines outside the doors of several Phoenix-based dispensaries.

The line at this dispensary is about 20 minutes long and has been that way since around 1. pic.twitter.com/xLoJHU1Cj3

— Ryan Randazzo (@utilityreporter) January 22, 2021