Franklin: Medical Marijuana Facility Now Growing

[Jacob Redmond]

A medical marijuana dispensary's Forge Parkway cultivation center is one of only two in the state approved to grow.

New England Treatment Access Inc. has completed renovations on the 5 Forge Parkway facility and started the cultivation process for the medical marijuana it will later sell at dispensaries in Brookline and Northampton, a company spokesperson confirmed.

"We anticipate our first dispensary site in Northampton, to open this fall," Dot Joyce wrote in an email.

The company planned to allocate a portion of its $739,000 construction budget for the build-out of the Forge Parkway facility, according to its initial application for a license. For the cultivation center, the company indicated it would need to construct a laboratory and secure storage room, among other additions to the 60,000 square-foot building. The installation of a security system at the Franklin and Brookline sites would cost an estimated $345,000.

In its first year of business, New England Treatment Access Inc. expects to grow 2,400 pounds of marijuana, representing a profit of $11.8 million.

And the company's medical marijuana will be tested at Milford-based ProVerde Laboratories.

In Franklin, 62 percent of residents voted yes on whether to legalize medical marijuana. Moreover, the town was one of the first in the state to pass a zoning bylaw dealing with dispensaries. Town Administrator Jeffrey Nutting and Town Council Chairman Robert Vallee penned letters of support to the state regarding New England Treatment Access Inc.'s application, while the Planning Board endorsed the company's site plan after just two meetings.

Local officials also pushed for legislation filed by state Rep. Jeffrey Roy, D-Franklin, that would allow the town to charge a sales tax on the medical marijuana that New England Treatment Access Inc. grows and sells. However, the bill died in committee last year.

The state Department of Public Health on Wednesday released an update on the status of the 15 dispensaries approved for provisional certificates last year. New England Treatment Access Inc. is one of only two companies to have reached the cultivation phase. The other is Alternative Therapies Inc., which plans to grow in Amesbury and sell in Salem.

DPH has to complete one more inspection before New England Treatment Access Inc. can begin selling medical marijuana to registered patients.

The department also announced changes to the state's medical marijuana program, including licensing dispensaries in a way similar to other healthcare facilities, such as pharmacies.

Under the new procedure, dispensaries can apply for licenses on a rolling basis, and the state grades them individually. Previously, the state established deadlines for the process and reviewed the entire pool of applicants at each point along the way.

In a statement, DPH Commissioner Monica Bharel said the current licensing process "brought on untimely delays to the dispensary program and prevented certified patients from expedient access to their healthcare."

state first awarded provisional certificates and more than two years since 63 percent of Massachusetts passed the law legalizing the use of medical marijuana.

"Registering dispensaries through a fairer, more efficient, market-driven licensure process similar to other medical facilities will allow the Commonwealth to maintain the highest standards of both public safety, care and accessibility," Bharel said.

The revised application process will take effect May 15 and only apply to new applicants.

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[Governmentchz]

In its first year of business, New England Treatment Access Inc. expects to grow 2,400 pounds of marijuana, representing a profit of $11.8 million.

Interesting they project profits at 11.8 million. That's if they sell all 2,400 lbs with a $307/oz markup over their cost-to-produce. People need to be careful the extravagant numbers they toss around. Simple math tells me if they are planning that profit from 2400 lbs, they will NOT reach their projections.

Don't set yourself up for failure by saying such things and simply don't exaggerate. We have enough sensationalized news in this world.

Just saying.

 

[Radogast]

Interesting they project profits at 11.8 million. That's if they sell all 2,400 lbs with a $307/oz markup over their cost-to-produce. People need to be careful the extravagant numbers they toss around. Simple math tells me if they are planning that profit from 2400 lbs, they will NOT reach their projections.

Don't set yourself up for failure by saying such things and simply don't exaggerate. We have enough sensationalized news in this world.

Just saying.

And cost to produce is much higher than most business costs as the expenses are not federally deductible.

And not to rain their parade, but Massachusetts marijuana law requires dispensaries and their grow facilities to be "non-profit." I understand that business newspeak allows non-profit to generate revenue fir other organizations, but it is still pretty bad form to brag about how much profit your non-profit business will make. I just might write the State Attorney General (no longer Coakley) and ask him to look into this issue of the "not for profit" intent of the law approved by voters.