Pubdate: Sat, 01 Feb 2014 Source: Boston Herald (MA) Copyright: 2014 The Boston Herald, Inc Contact: http://news.bostonherald.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/53 Note: Prints only very short LTEs. Author: Priyanka Dayal McCluskey WALSH RESIGNED TO POT SHOP Bay State Approves 20 Marijuana Dispensaries Bay State officials took a big step into uncharted territory yesterday with the approval of 20 medical marijuana dispensaries from Cape Cod to western Massachusetts. Two pot shops were approved for Boston - one in the Back Bay and another in Roxbury. The state Department of Public Health also gave the go-ahead to dispensaries in Mashpee, Dennis, Taunton, Fairhaven, Salem, Haverhill, Holyoke, Northampton, Lowell, Ayer, Newton, Cambridge, Brookline, Quincy, Plymouth, Brockton, Milford and Worcester. The facilities are expected to open their doors as early as this summer, if they win final approvals from local permitting boards. "Only dispensaries with the highest quality applications were selected to be a part of this new industry, which will create hundreds of jobs while maintaining community safety," said Karen van Unen, executive director of DPH's medical marijuana program. One consulting firm scored all the applicants, and another contractor did background checks. A DPH-appointed committee then made recommendations to van Unen, who had final say on who was awarded the licenses. "We focused only on the application itself and the strength of the application: Was the applicant ready? Were they qualified?" said Walpole Deputy Police Chief John Carmichael Jr., a member of the selection committee. "All of the political aspect was taken out of it." Yet three of the 20 coveted licenses went to former U.S. Rep. William Delahunt. He denied his insider status played a role in the process, telling the Herald, "I don't know what I'm inside to. I'm not in government." The winners were named from a pool of 181 applicants that was later narrowed to 100. State law allows for a maximum of 35 pot dispensaries spread throughout Massachusetts. Four counties - Berkshire, Franklin, Dukes and Nantucket - did not win any dispensaries, but the DPH invited a handful of qualified applicants to reapply for licenses in those counties. Nationwide, 20 states allow for medical marijuana dispensaries. The new pot shops here will be allowed to grow and sell marijuana for patients suffering from cancer, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease, to name a few. Users need approval from their doctors before they can buy pot. Each dispensary license costs $50,000 a year. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom