Pubdate: Sat, 26 Jun 2010
Source: Portland Press Herald (ME)
Copyright: 2010 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
Contact:  http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/744
Author: John Richardson
Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/topic/Dispensaries

17 GROUPS SEEK TO DISPENSE MARIJUANA

The panel reviewing the 29 applications for eight  facilities will 
award licenses on July 9.

Seventeen groups hope to be among the first to open  nonprofit 
medical marijuana dispensaries in Maine,  state officials said Friday.

Maine's Department of Health and Human Services  received 29 license 
applications from those groups  before the deadline at 2 p.m. Friday. 
Some submitted  multiple applications in hopes of operating more than 
one dispensary, or at least increasing their chances of  operating one.

The submission of applications is a major step toward  implementing 
the law passed by Maine voters last fall.  It calls for a dispensary 
network to enhance access to  the drug for registered patients with 
illnesses such as  cancer and AIDS.

A state review panel hopes to move fast, and will score  the 
inch-thick applications over the next two weeks  based on business 
plans, convenience of location,  experience, patient education, 
quality control,  security, staffing and other factors.

The licensing division of the DHHS plans to award the  licenses for 
the state's first eight dispensaries on  July 9.

"Once the selections are made, the successful  applicants will be 
able to go forward with proposals,  finding sites, permitting, hiring 
people," said  Catherine Cobb, director of the licensing division. 
"It will be a while before they actually have marijuana to  sell. If 
they got right out of the chute, they could  start growing operations 
quickly and within four  months" be ready to serve patients.

The DHHS will select one dispensary operator in each of  the state's 
eight public health districts. York and  Cumberland counties will 
each have one dispensary.

There are six applications for the license to operate  in Cumberland 
County, six for the license to operate in  York County, and six for 
the license to operate in the  district that covers Androscoggin, 
Oxford and Franklin  counties.

On the other hand, there is just one application to  operate in the 
Aroostook County district.

Applicants for Cumberland County's dispensary, which is  expected to 
operate in downtown Portland, are The Green  Market Inc., Primary 
Organic Therapy, the Northeast  Patients Group, the Maine Patient's 
Center, the Maine  Wellness Group and the Southern Maine Medical Clinic.

Some of the groups are made up of patients and  caregivers who 
already grow medical marijuana on a  small scale. Others are 
suppliers who have experience  growing and selling medical marijuana 
in California and  other states.

Each applicant had to pay a $15,000 fee, although  groups will get 
$14,000 back for any unsuccessful  applications.

After dropping off multiple copies of the thick  applications in 
binders, cardboard boxes and accordion  folders on Friday, many of 
the applicants said they  were hopeful, and tired.

"My job has been working on this," said Tim Smale of  Vienna, who 
applied for the western Maine district  under the name Remedy 
Compassion Center.

Smale said he and his wife, Jenna, spent nine months in  California 
to learn about the industry.

Igor Rakuz and Brendan McGann of the Maine Wellness  Group said the 
decision to apply to run a dispensary  was personal, because both are 
medical-marijuana  patients. They said they pulled several 
all-nighters  perfecting their applications for the Cumberland, York 
and midcoast districts.

"I'd love to see someone's application even touch  ours," said Rakuz.

Luke Sirois of Rangeley, who applied for licenses in  the York, 
central Maine and western Maine districts,  also was optimistic.

"There's no one, I believe, that's as motivated as we  are," said Sirois.

Voters approved medical marijuana dispensaries in  November, making 
Maine the fifth state -- after  California, Colorado, Rhode Island 
and New Mexico -- to  have such a system.

Leslie Bridgers of the Morning Sentinel contributed to  this report.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom