PHOENIX — Recreational marijuana sales in Arizona could spark as early as this week.
12 News spoke to a Valley dispensary about what this means for the industry and those who live in Arizona.
Lilach Mazor Power, the owner and founder of The Giving Tree dispensary, says this has been an incredibly exciting moment for everyone in the marijuana industry.
"This morning, I got up at 5 a.m. and applied for the license," Mazor Power said.
On Tuesday, dispensaries could finally apply for the $25,000 license that will allow local dispensaries to sell recreational pot. Here are the details:
- $25,000 application fee for dispensaries
- Childproof packaging required
- 48 hours to 30 days for application approval
- New customers interested in cannabis
- 16% tax on all recreational pot sales add at check-out
"We've been waiting for this and we have been talking to so many people who want to try cannabis to improve their lives and now they'll have the opportunity to do it," she added.
However, with an influx in customers and long-time clients already crowding shops, she had to adjust ahead of the application process to accommodate additional clientele.
"There is new packaging, everything is going to be child-resistant. We are buying more from other vendors and we're trying to produce as much as we can so we can provide the same service to any adult who is a customer," she explained.
She adds the new breath of clients will not 'weed out' existing patients with medical marijuana cards.
"We are going to have a designated cashier for them, they already have their profile with us, they know what they like so they can order online and come pick up pretty quick," Mazor Power said.
While the application timeline, with the State Department of Health Services, is unpredictable, Mazor Power has high hopes.
"It's somewhere between 48 hours to 30 days and we don't know exactly when that's going to be but anyone with good standing with the department should be processed pretty quick, so I think we're going to get the green light next week," she said.
Once given the green light, those 21 and older can go green if they choose, but don't forget about the 16% excise tax, tacked on to all recreational pot sales.