Arizona Medical Marijuana Blog Arizona Medical Marijuana Dispensary Transition

For many, this past year in the Arizona Medical Marijuana Industry has been an anxious waiting game. We have all witnessed a seemingly constant legal run-around with widely different interpretations of the law creating vast ‘grey areas’ that have led some caregivers and extraction suppliers to raids and closure, leaving patients with only black market suppliers to serve their medical needs.

Compassion First Caregiver Circle and our patients have been fortunate in that we have operated in such a way to avoid these pitfalls. CFCC has employed some of the very best lawyers to help us continually educate our staff and ensure all Arizona Proposition 203 laws are being followed during these unsure times, ensuring legal compliance at all times.

We are also proud to announce that Compassion First Caregiver Circle has donated over $40,000, directly from Arizona Marijuana Patients obtaining their medication, to local 501-(C) 3 charities. This money has gone to better the lives of the children, the elderly, the disabled, and both the sick and mentally ill around the Phoenix valley.

Now that we are getting down to the last couple of weeks prior to the announcement of Arizona Medical Marijuana Program Dispensary winners, many of us are preparing for the reality of soon operating a AZDHS MMJ dispensary and facing our possible challenges ahead. 484 applications were turned in statewide (27 being non contested). Only 99 CHAA winners will be selected. This means a HUGE portion of educated, industry relevant individuals, hoping to be involved with the Arizona Department of Health Services Medical Marijuana Program, will simply watch helplessly as someone else’s lottery ball drops into the new and exciting future of medical marijuana dispensing. Although a depressing scenario, the odds dictate that there will be far more losers than winners among us, but this is does not need to be the end of the road for those who unlucky among us.

There is still another way to participate in the medical marijuana industry here in Arizona without owning a dispensary. Join with Compassion First to help this exciting new business grow and prosper. Compassion First Arizona will be investing in dispensaries who are under-capitalized and in need of help getting set up with an operational dispensary, legal compliance, and medical program. We will be staffing up and building our capital structure to serve this infant industry in need of care and feeding.

The lottery winners will no doubt celebrate, but the next day, “Oh Wow”, will quickly turn to “Oh, no!” What am I going to do to fulfill the long list of AZDHS requirements to get my new dispensary open, operating, and to break-even?

The first year will be tough for everyone as Caregiver Networks slowly unwind and our new cultivation facilities come up to speed. We will help new dispensary owner/operators get through the first year with medicine from the start, while we help get you growing a dispensary sized cultivation to make you self-sufficient with a variety of medicines.  In exchange for our help and support, we will be asking dispensaries to join with Compassion First with an unapologetic commitment to the advocacy of medical marijuana patients and their rights.

Compassion First has prevailed in changing onerous regulations imposed by the Arizona Department of Health Services, and will further refine the laws applying to medical marijuana dispensary business here in Arizona. There is no guarantee, nor even reasonable expectation that the government’s stance on medical marijuana won’t change in the future. Indeed, their position seems to shift from support to antagonism with no discernible pattern, Thus the legal risks to this business and its owners are unquantifiable.

Through its ongoing advocacy efforts, Compassion First Arizona senior staff will engage in direct meetings and consultations with Arizona State Lawmakers, Law Enforcement, Civic Leaders, and various leaders within the Medical community on behalf of patients and the dispensaries who serve them to get across the importance of supporting the AZDHS Medical Marijuana program and how it benefits specific facets our communities.

If you are one of the lucky few to win a dispensary your celebration can only last for few hours because you are now on a ticking clock to get a HUGE checklist of AZDHS requirements checked off! Small errors in policy and procedures can deem you incompliant and constitute a raid. There are so many things to consider and worry about that many will wonder how you possibly have time to ensure a QUALITY harvest for your patients?   ! The answer is Compassion First.

If you were a hopeful investor in medical marijuana but are not lucky in the lottery, you will want to hear how our “for profit” advocacy business model works to elevate, support, and insure the future of our young and vulnerable industry while still offering reasonable returns.

Compassion First will be sponsoring an Invitation Only Medical Marijuana Industry Development and Investment Symposium at The Double Tree Hotel on North Scottsdale Road on Saturday, August 4th from 1:00PM to 4:00PM. During this meeting we will have leadership from our management team present information regarding Compassion First and our future plans to service the Arizona Medical Marijuana Program as the paradigm shifts to the new AZDHS Dispensary model.

The agenda for the day will include Compassion First’s Advocacy efforts to date in Arizona to make the Dispensary Model better for both investors and Arizona Medical Marijuana Patients. Legal experts from our State will presented information regarding the Legal climate in the Arizona Medical Marijuana Program as well as throughout the National Medical Marijuana Industry currently taking shape. Dispensary Finance and Management will be addressed, along with Cultivation Management, Medicine Access, and we will wrap up this meeting with a quick glimpse of inside information about the Compassion First business model and how we can keep you invested in expanding Arizona Medical Marijuana Industry. Everyone wants to get in on the ground floor of an emerging successful industry and business plan, however Compassion First is just looking for a select number of investors to work with so if you are an accredited investor looking for venture capital investment within the Arizona Medical Marijuana Industry please contact us at JRM@CaregiverCircleAZ.com to receive a formal invitation to our private symposium on August 4th 2012 from 1pm – 4pm to meet our management team and share their view of this exciting new business.

JRM, Marketing Director Compassion First Arizona, LLC

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