73 pharmacies can now sell recreational marijuana. Here they are.

Legal weeds are here.

The Arizona Department of Health Services has authorized 73 pharmacies to begin selling recreational marijuana products to adults 21 years of age and older.

See the bottom of this post for the full list of pharmacies, with names and contact information, by DHS.

A spokesman for The Mint Pharmacy, which has a Tempe and a Mesa establishment, said they would start sales today (Friday) at 4:20 p.m.

Territory, which has pharmacies in Chandler, Gilbert and Mesa, says it will also start selling at its locations at 4:20 p.m.

Curaleaf, which has eight pharmacies across the state, began selling at its stores at noon.

Harvest Health and Recreation operates 15 pharmacies in the state. Steve White, CEO, tells New times “12 or 13” of them have been approved so far and are open and already sell recreational marijuana, including the Scottsdale location at 15190 N. Hayden.

“We completed our first auction in 17 seconds, I think, after receiving state approval today,” White said. “I expect to see lines at the door today and probably through the weekend, but I believe the traffic should normalize thereafter.”

The approval comes after 60 percent of Arizona voters backed the state’s latest attempt to legalize recreational marijuana – Proposition 207 – in November.

Under the new law, adults 21 years and older can own up to an ounce of marijuana, of which up to five grams is concentrate, and up to six cannabis plants can grow at home. The law also allows medical marijuana pharmacies to start selling to recreational users after receiving state approval. It has now begun.

Specifically, the measure requires the Arizona Department of Health Services to begin accepting applications from early applicants on January 19: either existing pharmacies or applicants hoping to open one in a country with less than two pharmacies.

Some saw it as a way for the existing industry, which ran the initiative campaign, to seize the limited number of licenses and maintain a monopoly on the market. But it is also a way of avoiding the logistical problems that are delaying the explosion in countries that have been trying to rebuild a whole new recreational cannabis system.

The law gives government regulators 60 days from the start of the application window on March 9 to issue licenses, but pharmacies expected the state to grant the licenses much sooner – and that seems to have happened.

Sam Richard, executive director of the Arizona Dispensaries Association, said traders earned the trust of government officials, paving the way for quick approval.

“These are known quantities,” he said. “These are well-known government agencies.”

While some in the industry are expecting an immediate rubber stamp and to go on sale on January 20, Richard said it took slightly longer to get applications submitted than expected, and that the background checks require fingerprints to be submitted in person.

“The [Arizona Department of Health Services] ‘he himself is anxious not to be the body that stands in the way of adult cannabis,’ he said.

A spokesman for the agency said New times last week, licenses will be issued on a first-time basis, which means it is likely that the number of pharmacies offering leisure products will increase over the next few days. At some point, the state will also issue licenses to 26 new pharmacies through a social equity program, but the details have yet to be worked out.

A spokesman said ADHD said the agency had already received 61 applications by Wednesday afternoon.

Some local producers expect sales to grow threefold. Bryce Skalla, chief revenue officer for item 9 Labs, said the company needed extra space to store the extra packaging they had stored.

“We have giant cargo containers … just full of packaging,” he said. “Where do you put a million bottles?”

Skalla also warned that today’s products are much stronger for anyone trying marijuana products for the first time in decades. He recommends getting a quarter of what you think you should get.

Leisure sales are also subject to a 16 percent tax rate and you can still get in trouble if you smoke or drive in public while rocking, so be smart!

The atmosphere outside the Curaleaf location in the southern part of Phoenix was festive just after 2:30 p.m. Two fast-moving lines of leisure and medical customers were separated by a velvet rope while a DJ played.

Friends AJ Johnson and Bobby Jones were figuring out how to align their orders before moving in. Johnson told Phoenix New Times that he was trying to buy the best flower they had.

“We want the shit to keep you high for two days,” he said.

Behind them in line, welder Erick Fonseca said he came to work immediately after receiving a news alert on his phone. He was hoping to buy snacks over the weekend to enjoy with the weather.

“I’m just glad I did not have to get it off the street,” he said. “It’s time for them to do something smart.”

Not everyone was excited about legalization.

“Now I have to wait in a long line,” West Scott said. He plans to keep his card to avoid the 16 percent excise duty on recreational sales.

Mesa chef Jacquelynn Hanley has been hired to host catering. She served lemon chicken, green beans, pasta salad and a mixed green salad. Hanley said she usually offered flashy events, and that was a good change.

“Everyone here was very relaxed and cool,” she said. “They are not picky at all.”

At Curaleaf’s Midtown location in Phoenix, about 30 people were in line just before 5 p.m. Many people came as soon as they heard that the leisure sales had started.

“I just found out when I went to unload my packages at UPS,” says Kisha Vega as she waits in line.

Nick Harper lives nearby and comes as soon as he sees a news item on Instagram that sales are taking place. He got some cartridges that he used to medicate his leg himself.

“It makes it a lot easier to get it for myself,” he said.

Keith Morris, a Curaleaf employee, helped people pre-order before entering. He said the crowd was quite diverse.

“I think people know what they want,” he said.

Chella Marie drove from the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community with her brother and two adult children to the store as there are no pharmacies on the reservation. Marie got concentrate for tonight. After they fry bread for Bread on Friday, she plans to drink marijuana and then put together a playground for her grandchildren.

“Grandma will laugh there and sing with them,” she said.

While one elderly medical patient chose not to wait in line, others were glad that other people were gaining access. Teacher Emily Bacon regards legalization as a snapshot of Arizona becoming younger and more diverse.

“It’s nice to be a part of it,” she said.

(This story was updated a few hours after publication.)

Here is the list: