Residents of Arizona who are 21 years or older may soon be able to purchase cannabis, after state health officials revealed that they would begin issuing licenses for recreational marijuana sales.
Existing medical cannabis dispensaries will be the first stores able to sell cannabis and recreational cannabis products such as gummy edibles. Some of these businesses stated last week that they were awaiting online approval from state regulators so they could begin selling their products to individuals who possessed an ID issued by the state. A Department of Health Services spokesman stated that as of Tuesday, Jan. 19, 40 medical dispensaries had submitted their applications to sell recreational cannabis.
The unexpected change of heart with regard to licenses by the state has afforded the businesses that did apply for licenses a competitive advantage, considering that nearly two-thirds of dispensaries in Arizona are yet to make or submit their applications. Raúl Molina, senior vice president of operations at the Mint Dispensaries, which is among the operations that have already submitted applications, stated that the company was prepared to start sales as soon as it received approval.
Molina explained that the company had stocked up on childproof packaging, purchased an extra 800 pounds of cannabis in anticipation of a growth in demand, and submitted the documents required by the state for his employees to work in a recreational cannabis dispensary. Molina added that he had allotted registers for medical cannabis patients, which would prevent them from being displaced by new recreational cannabis consumers.
Voters of Arizona approved Proposition 207 last year during the November elections. The measure’s approval legalized the possession and use of cannabis in the state. The proposal also permitted the state’s operating medical cannabis dispensaries to apply for licenses to sell their products to individuals aged 21 and above, instead of only those who possessed a medical cannabis card issued by the state.
The state is required to issue recreational licenses to any medical dispensary that has complied with regulations within 60 days of receiving the application. In fact, business owners will not even have to wait that long. This is because the Department of Health Services sent an email to dispensaries on Friday stating that it was excited to establish the adult-use cannabis program and noting that adult sales would start this month.
Consumers should note that they will be expected to pay in cash, as a majority of dispensaries will be operating on cash-only basis because of bank restrictions. Additionally, while medical cannabis patients can receive their purchases delivered to them from various dispensaries, recreational purchases currently have to be made in person.
Away from the expected recreational cannabis sales in Arizona, California-based CannAssist International Corp. (OTCQB: CNSC) has brought to market proprietary technology that enables it to lower the needed dosage of CBD products since the molecules of cannabidiol are altered to increase their bioavailability.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to CannAssist International Corp. (OTCQB: CNSC) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://cnw.fm/CNSC
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