On Tuesday Health Department officials in Arizona drew numbered bingo balls to pick dispensary operators from among a list of qualified applicants.

The 4-hour drawing to pick winners among 404 applicants for 68 dispensary districts is a key implementation step for the voter-created health program. An additional 29 districts only had one applicant each so no drawing was held for those.

Health Services Director Will Humble said applicants allocated dispensary certificates now must file more paperwork and then pass various inspections within the next year before getting licenses to operate.

He said some dispensaries could open their doors within a few weeks if their operators’ preparations are well under way but that it may take others until next spring.

Great news for patients in AZ who thought for quite a while that dispensaries weren’t going to happen at all. Not that there aren’t problems on the horizon, as is the case with medical marijuana in every state. The drawing was held one day after state Attorney General Tom Horne issued a non-binding opinion saying the state legally cannot authorize distribution of marijuana because federal law trumps the 2010 voter-approved law creating the program. However, he said the drawings could proceed because it’s not the final step in the implementation process.

And everyone knows that the feds are watching as well, and will see all these new targets pop up in AZ. But in the end, progress is a good thing, and things are actually progressing in Arizona.

- Joe Klare