Ten individuals or groups were vying for one allowed medical-marijuana dispensary in Apache Junction/west Gold Canyon in a lottery broadcast live Tuesday, Aug. 7. (See other East Valley cities' numbers of applicants below.)

The Arizona Department of Health Services held a lottery to determine the winners of the dispensary licenses for the state of Arizona, according to www.azdhs.gov. Three Atom Action Bubble Top Bingo Blower machines, white cotton gloves, chain-of-custody sealed bags and 15 sets (75 in each) of white balls were purchased for the lottery, according to the website.

It was shown 9 a.m.-1 p.m. via video stream at the ADHS website, www.livestream.com/azdhs.

Approximately 462 applications have been determined to be complete and compliant pursuant to A.R.S. Title 36, Chapter 28.1, Arizona Medical Marijuana Act, 36-3804. The ADHS has stated it will publish the random selection results on the www.azdhs.gov website.

The number of dispensaries is based on the number of pharmacies in the state. As of January 2012, the department anticipated issuing 126 dispensary registration certificates. In the dispensary application, applicants must confirm whether everyone with a 20 percent or greater financial interest in the dispensary is an applicant or board member; and they have access to $150,000 in startup capital. A medical marijuana dispensary registered with ADHS must be operated on a not-for-profit basis, but will be able to receive payment for expenses incurred in its operation. Only an individual who is at least 21 years of age and has passed a criminal record check for an excluded felony offense may be a principal officer or board member on an application for a dispensary registration certificate. There are other conditions that may affect the ability to obtain a dispensary registration certificate, according to the FAQ at the website.

For this initial issuance of dispensary registration certificates, the department plans to allocate certificates on the basis of Community Health Analysis Areas. CHAAs were developed in 2005 as relatively small, community-based geographic units with a large enough population base to do statistical analysis, according to this site.

CHAA counts are here.

Apache Junction (including Gold Canyon west of South Kings Ranch Road), CHAA 092, has 10 applicants. Other East Valley cities, CHAA numbers and number of applicants are: 064, Mesa N, nine; 065, Mesa E, nine; 069, Mesa W, 11; 070, Mesa Central, one; 073, Mesa S, six; 076, Gilbert W, four; 077, Gilbert E, two; 079, Chandler NW, none; 080, Chandler SE, one; and 081, Queen Creek, two. San Tan Valley and Gold Canyon east of South Kings Ranch Road are in the 093, Superior/Kearny area, with two applicants.