11 marijuana dispensary applicants move to next phase

The Department of Public Health on June 27 announced that 11 registered marijuana dispensary applicants would be allowed to progress to the next phase of the licensing process.

Moving forward are applicants for facilities in Ayer, Brockton, Brookline, Dennis, Haverhill, Lowell, Milford, Newton, Northampton, Quincy and Salem.

In the next phase, the Department of Public Health will inspect and verify that facilities are adequate for operation and are in compliance with all local ordinances, bylaws or regulations.

Applicants who are successful in the verification phase could open dispensaries by the end of this year.

In a press release, the DPH stated that 97 percent of the state’s population lives within 30 miles of one of the 11 proposed dispensary locations. Up to 2 percent of the population is expected to participate in the program, based on the experience of other states that have implemented medical marijuana programs.

Half the counties in Massachusetts do not have an applicant moving forward, but the DPH has invited five applicants to submit applications for a dispensary located in one of the seven open counties. This secondary application process was expected to begin in July.

The DPH awarded 20 provisional licenses for marijuana dispensaries in January, but questions quickly emerged about the veracity of information contained in some of those applications, including mischaracterizations of local support.

The DPH subsequently retained an investigative firm to conduct individual and corporate background checks and to review each applicant’s business and operational plans, investor lists, sources of funds, and investments. As a result of this investigation, the DPH withdrew nine of the 20 provisional licenses.

The state’s voter-passed medical marijuana law authorizes the licensing of up to 35 dispensaries in the first year of the program’s operation, with at least one, but no more than five, in each county. Additional dispensaries could be licensed by the DPH in subsequent years, based upon the needs of the state’s population.