Pubdate: Sun, 21 Dec 2014
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Copyright: 2014 Globe Newspaper Company
Contact: http://services.bostonglobe.com/news/opeds/letter.aspx?id=6340
Website: http://bostonglobe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52
Author: John Laidler

SITES EYED SOUTH OF BOSTON FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA SALES

Four communities south of Boston could soon become the hosts of 
medical marijuana businesses, as groups across Massachusetts bid for 
the final approvals they need to enter the state's fledgling pot industry.

Ermont is seeking to open a combined medical marijuana dispensary and 
growing facility in Quincy, while In Good Health is attempting to 
locate a combined facility in Brockton.

MassMedicum, meanwhile, seeks to locate a cultivation site in 
Holbrook to serve its proposed dispensary in Taunton, while the 
William Noyes Webster Foundation seeks to locate a growing site in 
Plymouth to serve its planned dispensary in Dennis.

All told, the state Department of Public Health has granted 
provisional certificates for 15 dispensaries under the 2012 ballot 
law legalizing medical marijuana. Groups can gain final certificates 
to begin growing and selling once the DPH determines their facilities 
meet safety and other standards and they have secured all needed local permits.

The groups are bidding to reach the finish line even as a new 
administration is preparing to take office, raising the possibility 
of changes to the process.

Governor-elect Charlie Baker said last Tuesday that he wants to 
"figure out what to do" about implementation of the state's medical 
marijuana law, terming it "problematic," according to a report by the 
Statehouse News Service. Baker said that the process was more than a 
year behind schedule and that he was respectful that many patients 
have been waiting, the service reported.

In Quincy, Ermont would house its facility in 34,000 square feet of 
leased space in a commercial building on Ricciuti Drive, said its 
spokeswoman, Donna Rheaume. She said Ermont projects it would 
cultivate roughly 1,200 pounds of cannabis and serve about 2,000 
patients in its first year.

'Right now, we are moving through the regulatory process with DPH.'

"Right now, we are moving through the regulatory process with DPH," 
Rheaume said, with a goal of opening the dispensary in late fall or 
early winter.

Ermont received a special permit from Quincy in October, according to 
Christopher Walker, spokesman for Mayor Thomas P. Koch. City 
officials and the group are finalizing a host agreement under which 
it would annually provide Quincy with 3 percent of its gross 
revenues, up to $500,000, to mitigate for the impact of its operation.

"They've been terrific to deal with," Walker said of Ermont, noting 
that the group "clearly understood the city's concerns and wishes, 
and to date they've followed through on addressing the issues the 
city has requested of them," primarily involving safety and security.

In Brockton, In Good Health would house its operation in 16,000 
square feet it is subleasing in a building at 1200 West Chestnut St. 
The group, which hopes to open in April, has its local permits and is 
now renovating its space, according to its spokesman, David Ball. It 
expects to serve 500 clients the first year.

Brockton and In Good Health are finalizing an agreement in which the 
group would annually pay the city 3 percent of its gross income, or 
at least $100,000, and another 1 percent to nonprofits in the city 
that serve people with substance-abuse problems.

MassMedicum would locate its Holbrook growing site in a 
30,000-square-foot portion of a warehouse on Mear Road in an 
industrial area, and its dispensary in a planned 3,000- to 
4,000-square-foot building in an east Taunton industrial park, 
according to Dr. James Kurnick, a spokesman for the group.

Kurnick said MassMedicum hopes to begin construction at both of its 
sites before the end of the winter, with a goal of opening the 
dispensary next September. The group is now consulting with the 
Holbrook Police Department on its planned security system as part of 
its application for a building permit for the work in Holbrook. In 
Taunton, it will be seeking a special permit.

MassMedicum signed a host agreement with Holbrook and is finalizing a 
similar one with Taunton. They call for each town to receive 2.5 
percent, or up to $4 million, of the group's annual gross sales, and 
then 3.75 percent of the gross sales above the $4 million figure.

Holbrook Town Administrator William J. Phelan said selectmen support 
the planned growing facility, believing that any negative impact 
would be "negligible" and that the town will benefit from the 
estimated $100,000 it would receive in annual payments.

In Plymouth, meanwhile, the William Noyes Webster Foundation seeks to 
grow its product in 19,000 square feet of leased space in a building 
on Industrial Park Road. The dispensary would be located in 2,400 
square feet in a Dennis building.

The foundation had proposed housing its dispensary and growing 
facilities in separate sites in Dennis, but switched to the Plymouth 
site for the growing because its greater size would allow for more of 
the product to be cultivated in town, according to the group's 
attorney, Valerio Romano.

The group reached a host agreement with Plymouth that would annually 
provide the town with up to $300,000 in different combined payments. 
It is currently developing an agreement with Dennis. Romano said the 
group is pursuing its permits in both towns with the hope of opening 
for business in the late summer or fall of next year.

Plymouth Town Manager Melissa Arrighi said there is overall support 
in town for the proposed growing facility. She said a general view 
was that "this was medically needed . . . that it was not 
recreational," referring to medical marijuana.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom