Dispensary Will See Patients Full Time Starting Next Month HALLOWELL -- A city medical marijuana dispensary started seeing patients by appointment before Christmas and plans to open full time next month. Wellness Connection of Maine's 2,400-square-foot dispensary, one floor above the Liberal Cup on Water Street, is scheduled to open by January's end, according to the firm's executive director, Becky DeKeuster. Under state law, the dispensary will be the only one allowed in Kennebec County. Earlier this year, DeKeuster had hoped the dispensary would be open by the fall. Renovations have held up the Hallowell dispensary's opening, according to Jane Lane, senior vice president with Philip W. Johnston Associates, a Boston-based public affairs firm working with Wellness Connection. [continues 507 words]
On two occasions, Maine voters have authorized medical marijuana for people with serious illnesses. This was not a vote to legalize recreational marijuana use, but an attempt to treat the herb as much like a medicine as possible. Operators of the newest dispensary in Portland should keep that in mind and not take advantage of Mainers' compassion. Unfortunately, that's not what they are advertising. The website of Wellness Connection of Maine advertises a place for patients to relax near a fireplace and drink tea, while eating food laced with marijuana. It's a setting that sounds more like a cocktail lounge than a dispensary and it is not what voters were promised. [continues 260 words]
PORTLAND -- A medical marijuana dispensary that's scheduled to open in Portland next month is designed as a California-style wellness center. Its operator is promoting a free coffee and tea bar, acupuncture clinics, support groups, counseling and a "welcoming vapor lounge." The new website of Wellness Connection of Maine says, "Patients are always welcome to relax and socialize near our fireplace, or enjoy a free cup of tea with a friend in our cafe space." The manager of Maine's medical marijuana program says a dispensary with such amenities would violate state regulations aimed at ensuring that dispensaries are places to get medicine for serious illnesses, not places to socialize. [continues 528 words]
PORTLAND -- A medical marijuana dispensary that's scheduled to open in Portland next month is designed as a California-style wellness center. Its operator is promoting a free coffee and tea bar, acupuncture clinics, support groups, counseling and a "welcoming vapor lounge." The new website of Wellness Connection of Maine says, "Patients are always welcome to relax and socialize near our fireplace, or enjoy a free cup of tea with a friend in our cafe space." The manager of Maine's medical marijuana program says a dispensary with such amenities would violate state regulations aimed at ensuring that dispensaries are places to get medicine for serious illnesses, not places to socialize. [continues 529 words]
But Some Fear Plans by Portland's New Marijuana Outlet May Instead Create a Hangout. PORTLAND - A medical marijuana dispensary that's scheduled to open in Portland next month is designed as a California-style wellness center. Its operator is promoting a free coffee and tea bar, acupuncture clinics, support groups, counseling and a "welcoming vapor lounge." The new website of Wellness Connection of Maine says, "Patients are always welcome to relax and socialize near our fireplace, or enjoy a free cup of tea with a friend in our cafe space." [continues 565 words]
The Sanford Council has skirted an application to site a methadone clinic in town by instead approving a moratorium on such facilities. We think this was an unprofessional move by the council to prevent a business from opening within its borders. Although it may be legal, it seemed like an underhanded move to wait for an application to decide the ordinance is not sufficient. Many people may not like having a methadone clinic or marijuana dispensary in their town, but the fact is, those facilities are allowed under law and unless a town prohibits or regulates such places, they should not put up barriers once an application is in hand. [continues 412 words]
The third week in July, Republican Gov. Rick Perry said that the U.S. Constitution - whose 10th Amendment limits federal power - gives states the right to decide on such matters as abortion and gay marriage. The fourth week in July, the Texan recanted. He now supports a federal ban on abortion and gay marriage. Social conservatives told him they didn't cotton to giving states the right to defy their views on things they care about. Perhaps it's time for progressives to pick up the freedom banner that was so quickly dropped in the mud of Republican primary politics. Here are examples of intrusive state and federal government, ripped from the headlines: [continues 531 words]
AUGUSTA - Maine's Department of Health and Human Services approved financing for the state's largest medical marijuana nonprofit this week, paving the way for the opening of four dispensaries for which it holds exclusive state licenses. A letter dated Wednesday from Catherine Cobb, the director of DHHS' Division of Licensing and Regulatory Services, to Northeast Patients Group Executive Director Becky DeKeuster, was provided to the Kennebec Journal by Stephen Langsdorf, an Augusta-based attorney representing Northeast in a lawsuit against its former financial backer. [continues 170 words]
AUGUSTA -- An attorney for Maine's largest medical marijuana nonprofit group says it has secured $1.6 million in financing in a deal that will be formally delivered to the state today. If approved, the deal will enable Northeast Patients Group to open its first dispensary within a month, according to Daniel Walker, a Portland lawyer who represents the struggling dispensary group. Walker filed documents Aug. 4 with the Maine Department of Health and Human Services naming The Farmacy Institute for Wellness and retired NBA basketball player Cuttino Mobley as partners in The Wellness and Pain Management Connection LLC. [continues 629 words]
An editorial calling for federal rescheduling of cannabis was misguided and misinformed. In regards to "Our View: While cannabis is illegal, dispensaries will struggle" (Aug. 8), the suggestion that marijuana be reclassified to a lower schedule, like prescription drugs, is misguided and misinformed. Marijuana is a Schedule I drug, which reflects the facts that it is widely abused, that it has no approved medical use by the Food and Drug Administration, and that it lacks accepted safety for use under medical supervision. [continues 167 words]
The Tension Between State and Federal Law Prevents Maine From Fulfilling Its Vision. Don't expect a sudden influx of out-of-state cash to fix what's ailing the company that aspires to be Maine's biggest dispenser of medical marijuana. Augusta-based Northeast Patients group has lost two of its board members, including state representative and former Cumberland County Sheriff Mark Dion. State officials and patients are expressing doubts about whether they can trust the company that came forward last year looking like the most professional outfit around, but now is looking a little fly-by-night, needing 11th-hour financing from a hastily created Delaware corporation. [continues 256 words]
AUGUSTA -- Marijuana is known for making some people feel good and making others angry, particularly when it comes to debates about whether or not to make the plant available to the ill and the injured. But the plant becomes much less exciting when the topic turns to how it grows. "I think it's important, when you grow something, to know something about it," said Ray Logan, instructor for the fourth Marijuana State University medical marijuana grow class, held Saturday at the Senator Inn. [continues 594 words]
Ray Logan's Marijuana State University Draws Students To Augusta AUGUSTA -- Marijuana is known for making some people feel good and making others angry, particularly when it comes to debates about whether or not to make the plant available to the ill and the injured. But the plant becomes much less exciting when the topic turns to how it grows. "I think it's important, when you grow something, to know something about it," said Ray Logan, instructor for the fourth Marijuana State University medical marijuana grow class, held Saturday at the Senator Inn. [continues 593 words]
AUGUSTA - Maine's largest medical marijuana dispensary unexpectedly disclosed that the president of a prominent California dispensary chain is the point person for a new financing deal it says will allow them to open its first Maine dispensary "within weeks." The Wellness and Pain Management Connection LLC was named as the financier of an eight-year, $1.6 million loan, which, according to documents provided to the Kennebec Journal by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, will be paid back at 8.5 percent interest per year. [continues 193 words]
Winthrop Woman Second to Step Down From Panel Recently AUGUSTA -- Another board member has quit the group that holds the right to operate half Maine's medical marijuana dispensaries. In a July 20 email to the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, Northeast Patients Group Executive Director Becky DeKeuster wrote that Faith Benedetti, of Winthrop, had stepped down from the board of directors that week. Benedetti did not return messages left Tuesday on her cell phone and Facebook page. DeKeuster didn't return a message left on her phone. [continues 597 words]
AUGUSTA -- Ryan Begin was checking a report of an improvised explosive device in Iskandariya, Iraq., on Aug. 1, 2004. Then the U.S. Marine Corps corporal saw one. It detonated, blowing apart his right arm. More than 30 surgeries later, Begin said he has regained some use of his arm. But the psychological damage has taken a harsher toll, including drug addiction and violence. Begin told doctors in federal health centers high-grade medical marijuana was his only hope for tamping down the innumerable nightmares, flashbacks and fears that followed him from the battlefield. [continues 1576 words]
I've written about the medical marijuana issue several times, even spoken before the city council on the issue of clinic location. This week's news that Rebecca DeKeuster of Northeast Patient Group being the target of a lawsuit by her former employer could not have come at a worse time for the proposed Portland clinic. As usual, timing is everything. Looking over the initial application with the Maine Department of Health and Human Services for the proposed clinic, you could be initially wowed by the "sunshine and unicorns" factor. There are even budget projections based on the clinics first partial year of operations, dated July of LAST year to June of this year. [continues 707 words]
The Issue of Out-Of-State Funding Is Causing Some Controversy As Maine's Industry Gets Off the Ground. AUGUSTA - A financing agreement has been finalized between the holder of half of Maine's medical marijuana dispensary licenses and a former professional basketball player. The $2 million agreement between Northeast Patients Group and an organization led by former NBA player Cuttino Mobley comes as Northeast faces a lawsuit by its former California-based backer. The litigation and the deal with Mobley that sparked it have big implications for Maine's fledgling medical marijuana industry. Northeast holds exclusive state licenses to operate dispensaries in Maine's most populous markets: Greater Portland, Kennebec County and the Bangor area, as well as Thomaston. [continues 577 words]
Ex-NBA player, Maine marijuana group to partner AUGUSTA -- A financing agreement has been finalized between the holder of half of Maine's medical marijuana dispensary licenses and a former professional basketball player. The $2 million agreement between Northeast Patients Group and an organization led by former NBA player -- and former Maine Central Institute player -- Cuttino Mobley comes as Northeast faces a lawsuit from its former California-based backer. The litigation and the deal with Mobley that sparked it have big implications for Maine's fledgling medical marijuana industry: Northeast holds exclusive state licenses to operate dispensaries in Maine's most populous markets: Portland, Kennebec County and the Bangor area, as well as Thomaston. [continues 1228 words]
Inside Maine
