Outside midtown s Harvest cannabis dispensary, Sammy Magro said she had no problem standing in line to get legal THC cartridges instead of purchasing them off the black market as she had done for years. It was a sunny day in the low 70s and the line was moving quickly, so Magro didn t mind the wait, she said. I m excited about this. It s my first time buying legally, Magro said. I m looking for cartridges today because it s better than getting them off the street because they re pure. Bryce Hill said he has bought recreational marijuana in other legal states and he was glad adult-use sales had finally come to Pima County because of the tax benefits.
In a move that gave local cannabis watchers and many dispensary owners a serious case of whiplash, the Arizona Department of Health Services gave the green-light to recreational pot sales last week, catching a lot of people in the industry off guard. Harvest Enterprises, Inc., founded by CEO and Tempe native Steve White, had the first-ever Arizona adult-use sale in its Scottsdale location and Harvest became the first Tucson-area dispensary to sell recreational marijuana, with patients waiting in line for hours outside the midtown outlet at 2734 E. Grant Road on Friday, Jan. 22 and continuing throughout the weekend. Harvest s opening came after the AZDHS allowed recreational cannabis sales to begin, letting dispensary owners know adult-use recreational sales can move forward as soon as licenses are approved and dispensaries are set up to handle both aspects of the market.
Moe Asnani, owner of Downtown and D2 dispensaries Now that pot is legal in Arizona, questions about the advantages of keeping a medical card have wafted through the air like smoke from a slow-burning joint of purple kush. To answer questions about some advantages medical certification brings to the daily pot consumer, the Arizona Cannabis Chamber of Commerce (AZC3) hosted “Medical Marijuana, What’s Next?” on Dec. 17. The webinar featured medical marijuana insiders including Dustin Klein, co-founder of Sun Valley Health and director of Empower Clinics, along with Moe Asnani, owner of Tucson’s Downtown and D2 dispensaries. The Arizona medical marijuana industry generates about $800 million in revenue annually from around 300,000 patients. Going into 2021, the number of registered patients in the state will be higher than that of any other state that has gone recreational, providing a powerful economic voic