State health officials will be allowed to start the process for licensing medical-marijuana dispensaries after a decision by the governor, but a lawsuit and state bureaucracy could delay doors from opening for nearly a year or more.

Gov. Jan Brewer, who in May blocked the dispensary-licensing process, said Friday that she will drop her lawsuit, which sought a judge's assurance that state workers would not be subject to federal prosecution for implementing the law.

The decision moves the state closer to fully implementing the voter-approved medical-marijuana system.

However, although the licensing process can now begin, the governor said she will not allow workers to complete the process by issuing licenses until the courts resolve a separate legal challenge over the rules governing dispensaries.

Brewer also warned Arizona's top federal prosecutor against an "ambush" of state employees and said she still wants to know whether workers who issue dispensary licenses will be at risk under federal drug-trafficking laws.

"I've always supported the will of the people," Brewer said. "My major concern all along is that our state employees will be prosecuted."

Voters approved the law in 2010, authorizing the Department of Health Services to issue permits for up to 126 marijuana dispensaries across the state.

Brewer later blocked the department from licensing dispensaries, but she allowed the health department to continue issuing special ID cards to qualified medical-marijuana users.

Nearly 18,000 Arizonans have permission to use marijuana to treat a variety of debilitating conditions, including cancer and chronic pain, and about 15,000 of them have permission to grow pot.

Medical-marijuana advocates hailed Brewer's move Friday, saying dispensary applicants are eager to relaunch their businesses while state officials reauthorize the rules, which have expired during the seven-month delay.

"This is really a victory for the voters," said Joe Yuhas, who pushed for Proposition 203 and represents the Arizona Medical Marijuana Association. "There is ample time for dispensary operators to reinvigorate their plans."

The governor's lawsuit put dispensaries on hold just days before the state was set to begin the 30-day application period. Potential dispensary owners then sued Brewer for failing to fully implement the law.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton dismissed the governor's lawsuit Jan. 4, saying she couldn't offer the assurance Brewer wanted because the state failed to prove there was any threat to state employees.

She gave Brewer the option of amending her complaint, and Brewer also could have appealed. But the governor said Friday that she didn't think she would have been successful.

The lawsuits from would-be dispensary owners are still pending in Maricopa County Superior Court.

Gerald Gaines, CEO of the for-profit Compassion First AZ, said he has no plans to drop his lawsuit, which also challenges state rules governing dispensaries.

Gaines' suit claims the rules give unfair advantage to local businesses in violation of federal law and the state Constitution.

Gaines had hoped to oversee a chain of dispensaries, operated by some managers who he said cannot qualify under the rules.

Among other things, they haven't been Arizona residents for three years and have filed for personal bankruptcy, which the rules prohibit.

"The rules would knock out a lot of people who are very qualified to run dispensaries," he said. "We didn't think that was fair."

Attorney Ryan Hurley, who represents another group of would-be dispensary owners, said they plan to drop their lawsuit.

Judge Richard Gama took Gaines' lawsuit under advisement last month. Hurley said he expects the judge to rule against Gaines because Proposition 203 gave the health department broad rule-making authority.

"The whole thing theoretically violates federal law," Hurley said.

Even if Gaines' lawsuit is settled, the state won't accept dispensary applications until at least September, state health Director Will Humble said. Humble estimated they will issue permits in mid-November.

But Humble said Gaines' lawsuit "really is the sticking point in terms of getting the show back on the road."

In a letter sent Friday to the acting U.S. attorney for Arizona, Ann Birmingham Scheel, Brewer said she wants Scheel to "ameliorate any doubt and provide the state of Arizona with clear guidance as to the Department of Justice's enforcement position" on dispensary regulation.

"If there are certain actions state employees should avoid or specific licensing and regulatory activities that concern the Department of Justice, I ask that you communicate those concerns to me immediately," the governor wrote.

The Justice Department "will have a lot of explaining to do to the citizens of our country, and to state of Arizona employees in particular," if it doesn't advise the state on how to proceed regarding medical-pot dispensaries "and then ambushes state employees with prosecution or civil penalties," she wrote.

Scheel's office declined to comment, referring reporters to the Justice Department in Washington, D.C. Calls to that office were not returned.

The governor said her lawsuit was prompted by federal prosecutors, including former Arizona U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke, signaling a crackdown against the medical-marijuana industry.

But Burke and other U.S. attorneys said their focus was on large-scale trafficking, not patients or public employees who were complying with state laws.

Arizona and 15 other states have medical-marijuana laws that conflict with federal law, which outlaws the cultivation, sale or use of marijuana.

Mounting federal pressure in California, Washington and other states has led to raids on dispensaries and threats against landlords who lease properties to dispensaries.

"Know this: I won't hesitate to halt state involvement in the (Medical-Marijuana Act) if I receive indication that state employees face prosecution due to their duties in administering the law," Brewer said.