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The state received four applications Friday from those who hope to set up Vermont's first medical marijuana dispensaries that could be open by the end of the year, giving those who rely on marijuana for medical uses a legal means of acquiring the drug.
Who the applicants are and where they want to open the dispensaries is unknown, however, as the state considers that confidential, said Francis "Paco" Aumand, director of the Vermont Division of Criminal Justice Services in the state Department of Public Safety.
Shayne Lynn of Burlingon is one of the applicants. He said, as he drove home from delivering his application in Waterbury late Friday afternoon, that he hopes to open a dispensary in Burlington, pending approval of permits from the city.
Whether or when information about all the applicants would become public was an evolving question Friday, a notion that was disquieting to local officials and legislators who were involved in passing the law allowing the state to have up to four dispensaries. The dispensaries would grow and sell marijuana to people with qualifying medical conditions.
State officials initially said this week that the state would not ever make any information about the dispensaries public, but after inquiries by the Burlington Free Press, then modified their response.
"This has evolved in the last two hours," Aumand said late Friday afternoon.
Earlier in the day, Aumand said that his interpretation of state law governing confidentiality of medical marijuana was that he wasn't allowed to disclose information about the dispensaries.
A short time later, however, Public Safety Commissioner Keith Flynn said the state would not approve a dispensary without officials in the community knowing about it.
"No place is going to get something they don't want," Flynn said.
Those registered with the state to use medical marijuana for treatment of certain illnesses have been allowed to use the drug legally since 2004 in Vermont, but those who didn't grow it themselves had no legal way of obtaining the drug that is otherwise illegal.
Flynn said that while the state may be restricted in the information it can reveal, the dispensary applicants are required to prove they meet all the necessary local requirements, such as for zoning. He said he believes that will require them to alert local officials of their plans.
Aumand said that after discussions with Flynn on Friday afternoon his understanding is that the state will require a successful applicant to prove that they've been in touch with local officials to make sure they're in compliance with all local rules.
Though approval of the dispensaries is imminent, Flynn said he and Aumand had not had a chance to discuss policies regarding public notification.
"This is new and we're working through it as we go," Flynn said Friday afternoon. "We'll make sure we do it in a way that's informative to people."
Lynn said he has already broached his plans with Burlington city officials.
A need to know
Virginia Renfrew, who represents Vermont People with AIDS Coalition that supports the dispensaries, said the dispensaries will be a welcome addition for patients who rely on the drug to ease pain and stimulate appetite.
Some patients are too sick or lack the ability to grow the drug, Renfrew said. "By having dispensaries we can ensure patients have a safe, reliable medication that is not putting them out on the black market," she said.
Renfrew said she could see arguments on both sides for openness. . Some patients will want privacy, she said, though transparency is usually a positive.
A long string of state regulations prohibit a dispensary from advertising, limit the number of patients they may serve and preclude patients from using the drug at the dispensary, among other rules.
The regulations may have discouraged some would-be operators from applying, Renfrew said. Maine had "several hundred" applicants for eight slots two years ago, said John Thiele, manager of the medical marijuana program there.
In Burlington, among other Vermont municipalities, the possibility of having a medical marijuana dispensary open in the community is launching discussions.
Burlington Police Chief Mike Schirling said he has begun those discussions with the mayor's office and has not established a position on the dispensaries. Schirling said he would want to know if a dispensary is approved for his city.
"Not only would we want to know, but the public absolutely needs to know," Schirling said.
Mayor Miro Weinberger said Friday that he's sympathetic to the interest in medical marijuana but concerned about safety problems seen in some states that have dispensaries.
"If the state of Vermont chooses to award one of the newly authorized dispensaries to a Burlington operator, I will be working closely with the City Council and Burlington police to carefully review this new issue," he said.
Lynn worried about whether his application would be public, as it includes details that could invite unwanted attention such as where he would grow the marijuana. But he said he would want the public to know the location of the dispensary.
"I don't want this to be some secret," Lynn said. "The point of this dispensary is to step into the limelight here to acknowledge that people use this medicine."
He said he shares the police chief's interest in making sure a dispensary does not attract a criminal element.
Local control
The law allows municipalities to establish their own restrictions or prohibit dispensaries. The town of Stowe, where Aumand is a former Selectboard member, is poised to pass a moratorium that town Planner Tom Jackman said stemmed from unknowns about how the dispensaries would work.
Since the Legislature approved up to four dispensaries last year, the state Department of Public Safety has been developing rules for the application process and operation of dispensaries.
. As of Thursday, the state had no applicants, but four came through by the deadline Friday, Aumand said. A panel is expected to approve up to four dispensaries within the next month, Aumand said. Once approved, operators have six months to open a dispensary, with the possibility of a three-month extension, he said.
Aumand said the state based much of its program on Maine's version. In Maine, information about the dispensaries is public, with the state posting the lengthy and detailed dispensary applications online. Aumand said early drafts of Vermont's rules governing the dispensaries had them being public too, but he determined that would violate state law regarding the privacy of medical marijuana patients.
The rules were approved by the Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules without questions regarding the confidentiality, Aumand said.
Legislators involved with the dispensary legislation said they believed information about the dispensaries would be public.
"I think local law enforcement and others need to be aware," said Sen. Richard Sears, D-Bennington, a sponsor of the dispensary legislation, said he lent his support to the idea on the premise that host communities would have a say. "The more people understand the more control they'll have over it."
Sen. Jeanette, White, D-Windham, chairwoman of the senate committee Senate Government Operations Committee that helped write the legislation and co-chairwoman of the Public Records Legislative Study committee charged with examining the state's public records law, said she wasn't aware that the information might not be public.
"I don't see any reason why anybody would object to knowing where it was," White said. "Maybe that's a question we can look at with the public records committee."
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: burlingtonfreepress.com
Author: Terri Halienbeck
Who the applicants are and where they want to open the dispensaries is unknown, however, as the state considers that confidential, said Francis "Paco" Aumand, director of the Vermont Division of Criminal Justice Services in the state Department of Public Safety.
Shayne Lynn of Burlingon is one of the applicants. He said, as he drove home from delivering his application in Waterbury late Friday afternoon, that he hopes to open a dispensary in Burlington, pending approval of permits from the city.
Whether or when information about all the applicants would become public was an evolving question Friday, a notion that was disquieting to local officials and legislators who were involved in passing the law allowing the state to have up to four dispensaries. The dispensaries would grow and sell marijuana to people with qualifying medical conditions.
State officials initially said this week that the state would not ever make any information about the dispensaries public, but after inquiries by the Burlington Free Press, then modified their response.
"This has evolved in the last two hours," Aumand said late Friday afternoon.
Earlier in the day, Aumand said that his interpretation of state law governing confidentiality of medical marijuana was that he wasn't allowed to disclose information about the dispensaries.
A short time later, however, Public Safety Commissioner Keith Flynn said the state would not approve a dispensary without officials in the community knowing about it.
"No place is going to get something they don't want," Flynn said.
Those registered with the state to use medical marijuana for treatment of certain illnesses have been allowed to use the drug legally since 2004 in Vermont, but those who didn't grow it themselves had no legal way of obtaining the drug that is otherwise illegal.
Flynn said that while the state may be restricted in the information it can reveal, the dispensary applicants are required to prove they meet all the necessary local requirements, such as for zoning. He said he believes that will require them to alert local officials of their plans.
Aumand said that after discussions with Flynn on Friday afternoon his understanding is that the state will require a successful applicant to prove that they've been in touch with local officials to make sure they're in compliance with all local rules.
Though approval of the dispensaries is imminent, Flynn said he and Aumand had not had a chance to discuss policies regarding public notification.
"This is new and we're working through it as we go," Flynn said Friday afternoon. "We'll make sure we do it in a way that's informative to people."
Lynn said he has already broached his plans with Burlington city officials.
A need to know
Virginia Renfrew, who represents Vermont People with AIDS Coalition that supports the dispensaries, said the dispensaries will be a welcome addition for patients who rely on the drug to ease pain and stimulate appetite.
Some patients are too sick or lack the ability to grow the drug, Renfrew said. "By having dispensaries we can ensure patients have a safe, reliable medication that is not putting them out on the black market," she said.
Renfrew said she could see arguments on both sides for openness. . Some patients will want privacy, she said, though transparency is usually a positive.
A long string of state regulations prohibit a dispensary from advertising, limit the number of patients they may serve and preclude patients from using the drug at the dispensary, among other rules.
The regulations may have discouraged some would-be operators from applying, Renfrew said. Maine had "several hundred" applicants for eight slots two years ago, said John Thiele, manager of the medical marijuana program there.
In Burlington, among other Vermont municipalities, the possibility of having a medical marijuana dispensary open in the community is launching discussions.
Burlington Police Chief Mike Schirling said he has begun those discussions with the mayor's office and has not established a position on the dispensaries. Schirling said he would want to know if a dispensary is approved for his city.
"Not only would we want to know, but the public absolutely needs to know," Schirling said.
Mayor Miro Weinberger said Friday that he's sympathetic to the interest in medical marijuana but concerned about safety problems seen in some states that have dispensaries.
"If the state of Vermont chooses to award one of the newly authorized dispensaries to a Burlington operator, I will be working closely with the City Council and Burlington police to carefully review this new issue," he said.
Lynn worried about whether his application would be public, as it includes details that could invite unwanted attention such as where he would grow the marijuana. But he said he would want the public to know the location of the dispensary.
"I don't want this to be some secret," Lynn said. "The point of this dispensary is to step into the limelight here to acknowledge that people use this medicine."
He said he shares the police chief's interest in making sure a dispensary does not attract a criminal element.
Local control
The law allows municipalities to establish their own restrictions or prohibit dispensaries. The town of Stowe, where Aumand is a former Selectboard member, is poised to pass a moratorium that town Planner Tom Jackman said stemmed from unknowns about how the dispensaries would work.
Since the Legislature approved up to four dispensaries last year, the state Department of Public Safety has been developing rules for the application process and operation of dispensaries.
. As of Thursday, the state had no applicants, but four came through by the deadline Friday, Aumand said. A panel is expected to approve up to four dispensaries within the next month, Aumand said. Once approved, operators have six months to open a dispensary, with the possibility of a three-month extension, he said.
Aumand said the state based much of its program on Maine's version. In Maine, information about the dispensaries is public, with the state posting the lengthy and detailed dispensary applications online. Aumand said early drafts of Vermont's rules governing the dispensaries had them being public too, but he determined that would violate state law regarding the privacy of medical marijuana patients.
The rules were approved by the Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules without questions regarding the confidentiality, Aumand said.
Legislators involved with the dispensary legislation said they believed information about the dispensaries would be public.
"I think local law enforcement and others need to be aware," said Sen. Richard Sears, D-Bennington, a sponsor of the dispensary legislation, said he lent his support to the idea on the premise that host communities would have a say. "The more people understand the more control they'll have over it."
Sen. Jeanette, White, D-Windham, chairwoman of the senate committee Senate Government Operations Committee that helped write the legislation and co-chairwoman of the Public Records Legislative Study committee charged with examining the state's public records law, said she wasn't aware that the information might not be public.
"I don't see any reason why anybody would object to knowing where it was," White said. "Maybe that's a question we can look at with the public records committee."
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: burlingtonfreepress.com
Author: Terri Halienbeck
