DPH vows to verify dispensary application claims

Shortly after the Department of Public Health awarded 20 provisional medical marijuana dispensary licenses on Jan. 31, questions began emerging about the veracity of some components of several successful applications.

Local and state officials in at least two communities, Boston and Haverhill, have stated that narratives submitted by applicants mischaracterized the officials’ statements or interactions relative to the proposed dispensary.

In response, the DPH emphasized that each license was awarded provisionally, and that dispensaries would be required to undergo a rigorous series of verifications, inspections, and municipal approvals before they received final approvals to open.

The DPH has said that it will meet with applicants awarded provisional licenses to verify each component of their application under the pains and penalties of perjury, followed by subsequent meetings with the chief administrative officer in each host municipality to verify local compliance.

The medical marijuana dispensary application required applicants to submit evidence of local support, worth up to 15 points in an application process where the top possible score was 163 points. The local support section of the application had the highest value of any single section.

The applicant was awarded 5 points for a strong narrative outlining its community outreach and local support, 1 point for an adequate narrative, or no points for a non-response. The applicant was awarded an additional 5 points if it supplied a letter of support or non-opposition from a local official, such as the chief administrative officer, the board of selectmen or city council, or the board of health.

Lastly, the applicant was awarded an additional 5 points for providing a summary chart of local support.

In the coming months, the DPH is expected to award up to eight additional dispensary licenses – in Berkshire, Franklin, Dukes and Nantucket counties – bringing the total of provisional licenses statewide to as many as 28. None of the first 20 successful applications was located in these four counties.

No licensed dispensary will be allowed to open until the applicant can demonstrate compliance with all local ordinances, regulations and bylaws.

The voter-passed medical marijuana law authorized the licensing of up to 35 dispensaries in the first year of the program’s operation, including at least one, but no more than five, in each county. Additional dispensaries could be licensed by the DPH in subsequent years.

More information, including all submitted application materials, is available at www.mass.gov/medicalmarijuana.