Arizona health officials selected medical-marijuana dispensary applicants by lottery Tuesday, and at least one local entrepreneur claimed two coveted Maricopa County locations.

Gerald Gaines of Compassion First AZ had filed 24 applications in eight of the 126 regions the state selected for licensing the dispensaries. Twenty-seven of those regions, mostly in less populated areas of the state, have no dispensary applicants.

The lottery began at 9 a.m. By noon, with two dozen winners still to be selected, Gaines had earned permission to launch dispensaries in Fountain Hills and west Phoenix.

Gaines and other potential dispensary owners still must get a state inspection and license to begin operating. Gaines, who already uses the facilities for caregiver operations, said he could open as a dispensary within weeks, depending on how quickly the state can move.

Legal issues remain, however.

Attorney General Tom Horne issued a non-binding opinion late Monday saying federal drug laws trump the state's voter-approved medical-marijuana law when it comes to "cultivating, selling and dispensing" marijuana.

He cautioned potential dispensary owners against moving forward with their operations until the issue had been settled in court.

A federal judge last year threw out a lawsuit filed by the state to clarify the conflict between state and federal law, and a Maricopa County Superior Court judge earlier this year ordered the state to proceed with the dispensary process.

Horne said Tuesday it was his duty to respond to a request from 13 county attorneys to opine on the legality of the state's medical-marijuana law. He said he or Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery will ask a judge for a quick ruling in an ongoing case to determine whether the dispensaries are allowable under federal law.

"In the meantime," Gaines said, "we have patients who have needs, who are suffering. And we intend to do what we need to do to serve them."