The medical marijuana industry in Massachusetts is poised to go up in smoke without some kind of revision to the entire process. Dispensaries who were not awarded one of 20 coveted licenses are now calling for a comprehensive review of applicants who were awarded at least one, while the questions surrounding the Department of Public Health commissioner Cheryl Bartlett’s relationship with Congressman William Delahunt (given three licenses) remain unanswered. But Governor Deval Patrick thinks everything is just fine.
In fact, Governor Patrick doesn’t think any changes to the dispensary licensing process are necessary at all. Despite all of the concerns and whispers of an unscrupulous system, the governor is firmly maintaining his position that every facet of the seemingly convoluted procedure to decide on who is to receive a licenses was undertaken with the utmost integrity.
“I don’t think we gain anything by starting over,” Governor Patrick said, according to the Associated Press. “We are in the middle of a process. Nobody has a license, no one is going to get a license until we meet the standards of the application process.”
It’s important to keep in mind that none of the dispensaries are actually in possession of the licenses. According to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s website, they’re still in the verification phase which means the DPH is still taking a look at licenses and applications to make sure all standards are met, all statements are valid, and every single piece of information is verified.
But dispensary license bidders are utterly dissatisfied with and steps, or lack thereof, that the DPH or governor are making. Some have even taken to the legal system in hopes of prohibiting the DPH from issuing any of the remaining 15 licenses (there are 35 total) for an extended period of time.
To these legal actions, though, the governor seems similarly critical. Continues the AP, “Patrick termed ‘frivolous’ a lawsuit filed on behalf of one unsuccessful applicant.”
The medical marijuana dispensary verification phase is expected to last throughout the month of March. Assuming no action is taken to hinder the process or slow it down for further review, all dispensaries are slated to open during the summer of 2014. Stay tuned to BostInno for the latest information regarding the medical marijuana in Massachusetts.
