Pubdate: Thu, 03 Sep 2015
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Copyright: 2015 Globe Newspaper Company
Contact: http://services.bostonglobe.com/news/opeds/letter.aspx?id=6340
Website: http://bostonglobe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52
Author: Kay Lazar

DEMAND SOARING AT STATE'S LONE MARIJUANA DISPENSARY

Facility in Salem Reports 1,500 Patients in 2 Months

The executive director of the state's first and only medical 
marijuana dispensary said this week that in just two months of 
operation, it provided cannabis to 1,500 patients - the first measure 
of consumer demand for the product in Massachusetts.

That dispensary, Alternative Therapies Group in Salem,was granted 
permission by state regulators on Wednesday to expand its offerings, 
receiving permission to fill orders for first-time products such as 
marijuana oils and baked goods, which many patients prefer over 
smoking marijuana.

Regulators also moved Wednesday to allow a second dispensary to open. 
A Brockton company, In Good Health, was issued a temporary state 
waiver to sell cannabis that has not been fully tested for pesticides 
and other contaminants. Laboratories in Massachusetts are still 
struggling to complete quality testing required by the state health 
department under rules considered to be among the most stringent in 
the country.

Nichole Snow, executive director of the Massachusetts Patient 
Advocacy Alliance, said the state's decision to grant a waiver 
allowing sale of marijuana-infused products in Salem is welcome news, 
but hardly enough to meet demand.

In its application for a state license, Alternative Therapies 
projected it would serve about 1,500 patients its first year in 
business, the number they ended up serving in two months. But the 
initial estimate was adjusted upward. Far fewer licenses than 
expected were granted for the first year, increasing demand at the 
dispensaries that would open.

More than 20,000 people have obtained the required physician 
certifications to legally buy marijuana for medical use, and nearly 
12,000 of them have completed registration to shop in a dispensary, 
state records show.

"There are a lot of patients out there who still need access to 
medical marijuana, and the big concern is that they are getting 
medicine from an unregulated market," Snow said. "We want the lab 
testing to be thorough but not so stringent that dispensaries can't 
provide the medicine patients need."

Fifteen dispensaries have received provisional licenses, but until 
Wednesday only Alternative Therapies had been approved to start 
selling marijuana. The company opened June 24 with a long line of 
patients waiting at the door.

Under the latest waivers, the Salem and Brockton companies will be 
allowed to dispense a maximum of only 4.23 ounces of marijuana to 
patients every two months. Patients will be instructed to consume no 
more than 2 grams a day. When testing problems are worked out, 
patients will be allowed to buy up to 10 ounces of marijuana every 
two months, under state rules.

The waiver granted to In Good Health does not allow the Brockton 
company to sell marijuana-infused products, leaving Salem the lone 
company with the state's blessing to sell such items. A spokesman for 
In Good Health declined comment.

In issuing the waivers, state health commissioner Dr. Monica Bharel 
said it would "cause undue hardship" to patients if regulators 
prohibited all sales until the marijuana products passed full screening tests.

"Noncompliance does not jeopardize the health or safety of any 
patient or the public," Bharel said in letters to each of the companies.

Chemists at two labs preparing to test dispensary products said state 
guidelines are far too rigorous, particularly for screening metal 
contaminants such as cadmium. Regulators issued the guidelines in 
May, but the chemists said that was not nearly enough time to buy, 
calibrate, and test equipment sensitive enough to detect pesticides 
and metal contaminants to the levels required by the state.

"This is turning out to be the most stringently tested products on 
the market," said Michael Kahn, president of MCR Labs in Framingham.

Kahn said he hopes his lab will be ready by the end of this month. 
Christopher Hudalla, chief scientific officer at ProVerde 
Laboratories in Milford, said his team has been able to screen for 14 
of 18 pesticides monitored under the state rules, and is working with 
an outside lab to cobble a solution for detecting the problematic 
metal contaminants.

The leader of a trade association representing dispensaries said he 
is "deeply concerned" that the state's testing limits, if not 
adjusted, may prevent patients from accessing marijuana. "We hope 
that [the health department] will remain receptive to new information 
and willing to improve their testing standards so they are logical, 
scientific, not unduly burdensome, and protective of the health and 
safety of both patients and the citizens of the Commonwealth," said 
Kevin Gilnack, executive director of the Commonwealth Dispensary Association.

The testing dilemma is not unique to Massachusetts. Dispensaries in 
Nevada have also been struggling with strict screening limits, 
delaying some openings and forcing others to toss entire batches of 
marijuana because they exceeded state limits for pesticides, metals, 
and other contaminants.

Massachusetts voters in November 2012 overwhelmingly approved medical 
marijuana. But the awarding of dispensary licenses quickly became 
mired in controversy. The system was revamped and streamlined earlier 
this year by Governor Charlie Baker's administration.

Since the retooling, an additional 107 applications have been 
submitted by companies hoping to open dispensaries.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom