Arizona attorneys have filed a lawsuit seeking to force the agency that regulates the state's medical marijuana program to accept applications to operate from would-be pot shops.

The Arizona Department of Health Services was supposed to begin accepting the applications June 1, but refused after the state sued the federal government over the program.

Department Director Will Humble says he won't accept applications because of uncertainty about the legality of the program, pointing to the state's lawsuit, filed in May at Gov. Jan Brewer's request. That lawsuit asks a federal judge to rule on whether Arizona's voter-approved medical marijuana law can be implemented in the face of federal law, which says pot remains illegal.

Attorneys representing would-be pot shops filed their lawsuit Tuesday in Maricopa County Superior Court to force the department to accept the applications.