No Medical Marijuana Dispensary in Worcester Outrages Advocates

Thursday, July 03, 2014

Nicholas Handy, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

As the Department of Public Health moves forward with the 11 approved medical marijuana dispensaries throughout the state, Central Massachusetts and Worcester is one of the areas being left behind.

Because Worcester County already has an approved license in Milford, the Department of Public Health will not grant a second license in Worcester County until all first round applications have been approved and the needs of the state have been reassessed, which means the earliest Worcester could see a dispensary is sometime later in 2015.

“The limited amount of license granted by the Department of Public Health has left a huge are of Worcester County underrepresented,” said Matthew Allen, Executive Director of Massachusetts Patients Advocacy Alliance. “The DPH says that there will be dispensaries within thirty miles, but that is based on a radius and not travel time. Some of these dispensaries could be as far as an hour or two away from patients based on traffic which does not provide patients with easy access to the medicine that they deserve.”

The license in Worcester – which was initially granted to Good Chemistry of Massachusetts Inc. – was later denied because in the application, Good Chemistry said that they sent letters to and met with the Mayor, City Manager, and the Chief of Police, but Good Chemistry never met with the Chief of Police.

New Initiatives Take Time

Tensions are rising in regards to the implementation of medical marijuana dispensaries because although 19 months have passed since the beginning of the process, there are still no dispensaries.

Scott Zoback, the Communications Manager for the Department of Public Health’s Medical Use of Marijuana program, says that all new programs and initiatives have been known to take some time and are not immune from minor hiccups.

Zoback says that the program’s priority is to provide safe and easy access to medical marijuana which is exactly why they are being so cautious about who is approved and who isn’t approved for a dispensary license. Rather than approving anyone who sends in an application, the DPH is being thorough in their inspection processes.

“We are really focusing on bringing one dispensary to each county right now,” said Zoback. “Patient access is a critical piece of our program and one of our driving forces. This first round of dispensaries is in no way our endgame, but what people need to realize is that it is important that we implement these dispensaries properly.”

Need a Stronger Commitment

Medical marijuana advocates are glad that dispensaries are finally being approved and moving forward, but are still upset with the Department of Public Health because the approval process is becoming too little, too late.

Allen would like to see the Department of Public Health align with their claims of having the best interests of the patients of Massachusetts in mind. In order to do so, Allen is advocating for fast action on both the approval and opening of medical marijuana dispensaries throughout Massachusetts, as well as fixing the caregiver system so that everyone in the state can be aware of those allowed to have medical marijuana.

“This is a significant step forward for the medical marijuana field but we want to see the DPH more committed to opening up dispensaries and fixing the caregiver system,” said Allen. “The Department has already missed a lot of the deadlines that they set for themselves for approving these licenses. Ultimately, one dispensary per county is not enough. If the DPH is committed to patient access like they say they are, then we would like to see rapid movement on opening more dispensaries.”