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Don Parker knows the medicinal value of marijuana. Without it, Parker says he couldn't be a functioning member of society – a worker, a Little League umpire and a father.
"It's enabled me to pretty much function on a daily basis," said Parker, 40, who lives in Middleboro and suffers from cyclic vomiting syndrome, a disease without a known cause or cure that causes severe bouts of nausea that can last for days.
Thirteen years ago, Parker discovered that marijuana eased his symptoms like nothing else. But he's forced to buy on the black market until marijuana dispensaries open in the state – and that isn't expected to happen for another year.
Hoping to serve patients like Parker, Coastal Compassion is among two prospective dispensaries in New Bedford that submitted applications to the state last week.
"I've seen the benefits of how medical marijuana can (improve) the lives of people, and I strongly believe that it is a medicine to be treated as a medicine, and it's that conviction that drives me," said Coastal Compassion President Tim Keogh.
Keogh, 34, lives in Westport and worked with marijuana patients in Rhode Island, where medical marijuana became legal in 2006. Not a patient himself, Keogh said he learned of its medicinal values through a friend on chemotherapy.
Coastal Compassion could compete for a license with New England Treatment Access, whose partner (Center for Alternative Life Medicine) also plans to open a cultivation and dispensary in New Bedford. CALM recently merged with NETA and also has applications in Brookline and Northampton, located respectively in Norfolk and Hampshire counties.
The state Department of Public Health can issue 35 licenses with a maximum of five per county. But Keogh said it's unlikely that the state will issue two licenses in New Bedford.
He said his company's edge over New England Treatment Access is its focus on one region.
"We are locally funded and locally based, and our focus is one market, which is serving the patients of the SouthCoast," Keogh said.
T.J. Thomas is on the board of New England Treatment Access and is president of CALM. He said operating in three parts of the state would be better for New Bedford.
"Because it's a much larger approach we will have more resources to give back to the city," he said, adding that the New Bedford grow-operation could supply 100 percent of the marijuana sold at the NETA dispensaries in Brookline and Northampton.
Keogh said the company is eyeing mill buildings in the South End and could open a business office downtown in September.
Chris Crane is a partner at Forefront Advisors, an Arizona-based marijuana dispensary consultancy hired by Coastal Compassion to help with the application process and to set a plan for a retail dispensary.
"We've been nothing but impressed with the folks at Coastal Compassion," said Crane, a former associate director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML.
With $10 million to $15 million projected in annual revenue, Crane estimated Coastal Compassion's startup cost at $1.5 million, including construction, equipment and staffing needs over the four months from seed to harvest. For final state approval the company will need to show it has access to startup funds.
Although he didn't specify who would fund the operation, Keogh said he has access to $500,000 in financing from private individuals.
Coastal Compassion has three boards, including a financial advisory board, a board of directors and an advisory board to oversee the design of the facility and cultivation.
The nonprofit also hired Canna Advisors, a Colorado firm specializing in industrial marijuana cultivation. Keogh said the cultivation operation would require 15 workers at the start and up to 25 as it reaches maturity. Aspiring marijuana providers are in the first of two phases of the DPH licensing process. Keogh said Phase 2 is expected to begin September 20, and that a decision on who gets licenses could come as early as January.
If Coastal Compassion is licensed, Keogh said it could be in business by August 2014.
News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: southcoasttoday.com
Author: Simon Rios
Contact: Contact Us
Website: Two nonprofits vie to dispense medical marijuana in New Bedford | SouthCoastToday.com
"It's enabled me to pretty much function on a daily basis," said Parker, 40, who lives in Middleboro and suffers from cyclic vomiting syndrome, a disease without a known cause or cure that causes severe bouts of nausea that can last for days.
Thirteen years ago, Parker discovered that marijuana eased his symptoms like nothing else. But he's forced to buy on the black market until marijuana dispensaries open in the state – and that isn't expected to happen for another year.
Hoping to serve patients like Parker, Coastal Compassion is among two prospective dispensaries in New Bedford that submitted applications to the state last week.
"I've seen the benefits of how medical marijuana can (improve) the lives of people, and I strongly believe that it is a medicine to be treated as a medicine, and it's that conviction that drives me," said Coastal Compassion President Tim Keogh.
Keogh, 34, lives in Westport and worked with marijuana patients in Rhode Island, where medical marijuana became legal in 2006. Not a patient himself, Keogh said he learned of its medicinal values through a friend on chemotherapy.
Coastal Compassion could compete for a license with New England Treatment Access, whose partner (Center for Alternative Life Medicine) also plans to open a cultivation and dispensary in New Bedford. CALM recently merged with NETA and also has applications in Brookline and Northampton, located respectively in Norfolk and Hampshire counties.
The state Department of Public Health can issue 35 licenses with a maximum of five per county. But Keogh said it's unlikely that the state will issue two licenses in New Bedford.
He said his company's edge over New England Treatment Access is its focus on one region.
"We are locally funded and locally based, and our focus is one market, which is serving the patients of the SouthCoast," Keogh said.
T.J. Thomas is on the board of New England Treatment Access and is president of CALM. He said operating in three parts of the state would be better for New Bedford.
"Because it's a much larger approach we will have more resources to give back to the city," he said, adding that the New Bedford grow-operation could supply 100 percent of the marijuana sold at the NETA dispensaries in Brookline and Northampton.
Keogh said the company is eyeing mill buildings in the South End and could open a business office downtown in September.
Chris Crane is a partner at Forefront Advisors, an Arizona-based marijuana dispensary consultancy hired by Coastal Compassion to help with the application process and to set a plan for a retail dispensary.
"We've been nothing but impressed with the folks at Coastal Compassion," said Crane, a former associate director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML.
With $10 million to $15 million projected in annual revenue, Crane estimated Coastal Compassion's startup cost at $1.5 million, including construction, equipment and staffing needs over the four months from seed to harvest. For final state approval the company will need to show it has access to startup funds.
Although he didn't specify who would fund the operation, Keogh said he has access to $500,000 in financing from private individuals.
Coastal Compassion has three boards, including a financial advisory board, a board of directors and an advisory board to oversee the design of the facility and cultivation.
The nonprofit also hired Canna Advisors, a Colorado firm specializing in industrial marijuana cultivation. Keogh said the cultivation operation would require 15 workers at the start and up to 25 as it reaches maturity. Aspiring marijuana providers are in the first of two phases of the DPH licensing process. Keogh said Phase 2 is expected to begin September 20, and that a decision on who gets licenses could come as early as January.
If Coastal Compassion is licensed, Keogh said it could be in business by August 2014.
News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: southcoasttoday.com
Author: Simon Rios
Contact: Contact Us
Website: Two nonprofits vie to dispense medical marijuana in New Bedford | SouthCoastToday.com
