Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
It's been nearly two years since the New Hampshire Legislature passed a medical marijuana law, but it's unlikely that the first dispensaries will open here until 2016.
"Evaluators" are still combing through the applications - each hundreds of pages long - from the 14 nonprofit entities vying to open alternative treatment centers (ATCs), according to the state health department.
"The applications are huge," said Eric Borrin, director of contracts and procurements for the Department of Health and Human Services. "They're requiring time to work through, and there's a certain amount of due diligence and fact-checking that needs to be done with respect to the responses that have been received."
Borrin said DHHS is relying on both internal and external evaluators to go over the proposals.
"I remain hopeful that we'll be able to make selections sooner than later, but I don't have a timeline," he said.
Still A Ways Off
And that means the health department won't be accepting applications any time soon from qualifying patients and their caregivers for the registry identification cards that will allow them to purchase cannabis for therapeutic use.
Michael Holt, administrative rules coordinator for DHHS, said once the four ATCs authorized under the state law are chosen, the process shifts to those entities to obtain the proper approvals from local communities, establish their businesses and begin growing "product."
Holt said the department plans to issue cards to patients and caregivers about six weeks before the first ATCs open. "But because that opening date is subject to change and subject to the ATCs' development, it's hard to pinpoint a date," he said.
Various Factors
For now, the "rough timeline" is for dispensaries to open in January, which would mean patient cards could be issued in November. It's possible things could happen more quickly, if a business has already done a lot of the preliminary work, Holt said.
Under department rules, the selected ATCs will have 90 days to secure all the required zoning approvals and submit their registration paperwork to the state. Then the department will have to do a compliance inspection before a registration certificate can be submitted.
Only when that happens can the ATCs begin cultivating cannabis. Holt said he understands it will take at least four months to produce a product that's ready to sell.
And that's the timeline that brings the state to January before the first patients can begin legally buying cannabis.
Still, Holt said it's a fluid situation. If the selected vendors have done a lot of preliminary work with the local communities, the process could be streamlined.
On the other hand, he said, "If there are zoning obstacles, then it could push it back.""There are a lot of moving parts."
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: NH medical marijuana dispensaries still months away, unlikely before 2016 | New Hampshire
Author: Shawne K. Wickham
Contact: swickham@unionleader.com
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: New Hampshire and Manchester news, weather, business and sports - New Hampshire's newspaper
"Evaluators" are still combing through the applications - each hundreds of pages long - from the 14 nonprofit entities vying to open alternative treatment centers (ATCs), according to the state health department.
"The applications are huge," said Eric Borrin, director of contracts and procurements for the Department of Health and Human Services. "They're requiring time to work through, and there's a certain amount of due diligence and fact-checking that needs to be done with respect to the responses that have been received."
Borrin said DHHS is relying on both internal and external evaluators to go over the proposals.
"I remain hopeful that we'll be able to make selections sooner than later, but I don't have a timeline," he said.
Still A Ways Off
And that means the health department won't be accepting applications any time soon from qualifying patients and their caregivers for the registry identification cards that will allow them to purchase cannabis for therapeutic use.
Michael Holt, administrative rules coordinator for DHHS, said once the four ATCs authorized under the state law are chosen, the process shifts to those entities to obtain the proper approvals from local communities, establish their businesses and begin growing "product."
Holt said the department plans to issue cards to patients and caregivers about six weeks before the first ATCs open. "But because that opening date is subject to change and subject to the ATCs' development, it's hard to pinpoint a date," he said.
Various Factors
For now, the "rough timeline" is for dispensaries to open in January, which would mean patient cards could be issued in November. It's possible things could happen more quickly, if a business has already done a lot of the preliminary work, Holt said.
Under department rules, the selected ATCs will have 90 days to secure all the required zoning approvals and submit their registration paperwork to the state. Then the department will have to do a compliance inspection before a registration certificate can be submitted.
Only when that happens can the ATCs begin cultivating cannabis. Holt said he understands it will take at least four months to produce a product that's ready to sell.
And that's the timeline that brings the state to January before the first patients can begin legally buying cannabis.
Still, Holt said it's a fluid situation. If the selected vendors have done a lot of preliminary work with the local communities, the process could be streamlined.
On the other hand, he said, "If there are zoning obstacles, then it could push it back.""There are a lot of moving parts."
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: NH medical marijuana dispensaries still months away, unlikely before 2016 | New Hampshire
Author: Shawne K. Wickham
Contact: swickham@unionleader.com
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: New Hampshire and Manchester news, weather, business and sports - New Hampshire's newspaper
