Proximity to obscure school may force switch in site of marijuana dispensary
Northeast Patients Group says it will review the suitability of its property at 959 Congress St.
By John Richardson jrichardson@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer
PORTLAND - A group that plans to operate a medical marijuana dispensary on Congress Street may have to use another site.
The Rev. Stephen Reynolds said Wednesday he'd be relieved if a small Christian school housed inside his Deliverance Center on Congress Street altered plans for a medical marijuana dispensary at Congress and St. John's streets in Portland. Dispensaries must be 500 feet for any school boundary.
John Patriquin/Staff Photographer
Northeast Patients Group has identified a brick and granite building at Congress and St. John streets as its preferred site for Portland's first medical marijuana dispensary, which it plans to open in December.
But that property appears to be within 500 feet of the Deliverance Center, a church that takes in drug addicts and alcoholics and happens to house a small and little-known private school, the Christian Academy of Portland.
State rules require that licensed dispensaries be at least 500 feet from any "pre-existing public or private school boundary."
"We'll keep investigating," Rebecca DeKeuster, chief operating officer of Northeast Patients Group, said after learning of the school's existence Wednesday. "If the property doesn't meet the state standard, obviously we would not set up in that site."
DeKeuster said the group thoroughly researched the area but didn't know about the school, which offers a Pentecostal curriculum from kindergarten through high school to students who attend the church. She said she was aware that the church had a Bible school for adults, but determined that would not disqualify the Congress Street site.
Northeast Patients Group, which last week won the state license to operate a dispensary in Portland, had already identified alternative sites, including 95 Preble St. It doesn't expect any problem in finding a suitable location, DeKeuster said.
Although the Christian Academy of Portland can be found through Internet searches, there are no signs on the building and the school is so small that it didn't even operate last year.
The Rev. Stephen Reynolds said he expects an enrollment of four or five students this fall, and that the school has operated almost every year since 1978.
Reynolds didn't know that the church's school could alter plans for a dispensary in the neighborhood, but he will be relieved if it does, he said.
Reynolds said he has seen the destructive side of marijuana and other drugs while working to restore lives shattered by substance abuse, and he's convinced that Maine's medical marijuana law is a mistake.
Medical marijuana advocates "are trying to help people who are hurting, (but) one thing leads to another," he said. "To them it's better than heroin and cocaine, but it's just a step away from it."
The church and school are at 1008 Congress St., next to the Cumberland County Jail. Northeast Patients Group chose the building at 959 Congress St. as its preferred site, though it has not signed a lease for the space.
Maps and satellite images show that the two properties are within 500 feet of each other, but city and state officials didn't know about the school and had not checked official property maps as of Wednesday.
A leader of a competing group that hoped to win the right to operate Portland's dispensary said its members quickly identified the school after the dispensary site was announced, and even measured the distance on the ground.
Brendan McGann, director of the Maine Wellness Group, said the properties are only 428 feet apart.
He said the problem with the preferred location means the winning application was flawed and the process for selecting a dispensary operator in Portland should start over.
The state won't reopen the application process over the school issue, said Kathy Bubar, deputy commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services.
"Certainly if there is a school within 500 feet, we would ask them to relocate," Bubar said. "That's certainly not disqualifying."
DeKeuster said she plans to meet with neighbors of the site, such as Reynolds, to address any concerns that the dispensary would do more harm than good.
Staff Writer John Richardson can be contacted at 791-6324 or at: jrichardson@pressherald.com
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40 COMMENTS
U3RldmUw said...
If you homeschool kids, does that count?
July 15, 2010 at 12:20 AM Report abuse
heyjoe said...
Put the pot dispensary at the Ocean Gateway to nowhere!!!! The foodies seem to like it there! Make me up a batch of them there "funny brownies"
July 15, 2010 at 12:21 AM Report abuse
UofA said...
Move the school! Wasn't used last year and might have 5 students this year. Make them show proof of enrollment.
July 15, 2010 at 5:05 AM Report abuse
Gary said...
"one thing leads to another", Reynolds said. Most or all of the folks with Marijuana prescriptions have serious medical conditions that aren't leading to anywhere positive. What a dolt! BTW, how can he run a clinic for addicts and alcoholics in the same location as a school? Are there no laws?
July 15, 2010 at 6:02 AM Report abuse
Franklee said...
Seriously Gary. Isn't an organization that houses a program for alcoholics and drug addicts and a school for K-12 under one roof in violation of itself?
July 15, 2010 at 6:54 AM Report abuse
Transplant94 said...
I support the medical use of marijuana and understand there are many people who already benefit from it. With all the negative press the issue is getting, NPG really needs to look at where they are locating the dispensary. Easy access for clients including handicapped access, and a location where they are not at risk for crime should be paramount considerations for the site. Neither of the potential sites mentioned are easy to get to, nor are they in the most desirable neighborhoods to start with. After hours, they would be a target for crime, setting the program up for failure. Maybe people from Maine familiar with the area should have more say, rather than another group from California imposing themselves upon this state. There are many more locations in Cumberland County with easier access that would not have clients feeling like "lessor members of society." Downtown Portland is not a good choice.
July 15, 2010 at 7:11 AM Report abuse
jake007 said...
A thought. Perhaps consider having the "clinic" be fashioned like the mobile library. Or those ice cream trucks that come through your neighborhood playing that same song ("Pop goes the weezel" I believe). Mondays on Munjoy,Tuesday,Riverton etc etc. Always away from schools.No rif raf handing around the "building" because there is none. It could drive directly to the Bangor warehouse and gets its product as needed.Instead of bright pictures of ice cream cones and Popsicle,s, it would have large green leafs and brownies. No,this could work.Mobile dispensarys,the future is now!
July 15, 2010 at 7:51 AM Report abuse
tim said...
I still don't understand why the marijuana in the pill form isn't used. I thought it capture the basic ingredients?
July 15, 2010 at 8:03 AM Report abuse
dumasilook said...
any behavior by a person smoking marijuana would pale in comparison to pentacostal behavior during services
July 15, 2010 at 8:17 AM Report abuse
homeboy said...
Perhaps describing the place as "little known" would have been more fair than "obscure", which certainly has many negative connotations...
July 15, 2010 at 8:26 AM Report abuse
Janie said...
I thought when I moved away 2 months ago I would miss Portland as my home...Nope I don't, it's just one stupid thing afer another. Give me a break on that "school" at the Deliverance Center, I'm sure it's just another way for a so called "religious" man to make and take more money.
July 15, 2010 at 8:27 AM Report abuse
XPortlander said...
It is medicinal....like a pharmacy and those people are kooks.
July 15, 2010 at 8:41 AM Report abuse
Justincase said...
tim said, "I still don't understand why the marijuana in the pill form isn't used." Because it's harder to roll in the pill form.
July 15, 2010 at 8:42 AM Report abuse
tacodon said...
Fact: Lives ruined by Christianity > lives ruined by marijuana.
July 15, 2010 at 8:47 AM Report abuse
Eric said...
so you can't put a marijuana dispensary there, which people with health problems and prescriptions for it are the ones going there, but housing drug addicts, likely caring drugs, or alcoholics in the same building as a so called school is fine. there is no problem there no laws broken. seems like that is a worse situation
July 15, 2010 at 8:49 AM Report abuse
Jaylea said...
Would people be as against a regular pharmacy, if it were placed in that location? People who will receive marijuana at this location will do so because they have a medical condition. No different than any other medication (although likely more tightly controlled). I would be more concerned about either the drug/alcoholic treatment program in the same building as the school, the proximity to the jail, or the druggies and sketchy people already hanging out in the area than I would a highly controlled medical dispensary. People need to get a grip.
July 15, 2010 at 8:54 AM Report abuse
mdyer said...
That grumpy old minister needs to chill out, burn one and get his Revelation on!
July 15, 2010 at 9:02 AM Report abuse
snowatsea said...
NPG's proposed selection of the the Congress St. site is a fine one. The building has functioned as a very, very low profile but high security CASH clearing house for years without incident. The location is great from a transportation perspective also. Face it, the 500' rule is absurd even if, for equity purposes, they applied it to the real threat to youth - pharmacies and convenience (to get drunk) stores.
July 15, 2010 at 9:05 AM Report abuse
gowens said...
Time to get the old farts out of government... They are scared of their own shadows... Change is good. There never was a valid reason to make marijuana illegal in the first place... And if it's going to be a prescription drug, why can't it just be sold at regular pharmacies?
July 15, 2010 at 9:10 AM Report abuse
bebopredux said...
1 year from now we'll see this man is right. The dispensary's will be crime magnets. The people around them will not be just people wanting MJ. It'll be the numerous state funded methadone junkies. With most of these methadone junkies, the meth just isn't enough. They are complementing it with a cocktail of anything. That's what will happen with these dispensaries. It'll be another ingredient to their cocktail and even then, that won't be enough. It's worse than people are aware of. Trust me.
July 15, 2010 at 9:26 AM Report abuse
common_cents said...
Interesting, to see where all of this is growing. OAKLAND, CAliF. is broked; laying off police in a crime ridden city run by Ron Dellums(D). The City Council is seriously considering allowing marijuana PLANTATIONS and collecting sales tax and licensing fees. The estimates of revenue were up in the ten's of millions. Perhaps, Portland can blend localvore philosophy with the dispensaries and allow them to grow their own 'medical' marijuana. Oakland's marketing studies can be used to determine how big they can be.
July 15, 2010 at 9:30 AM Report abuse
bebopredux said...
Jaylea said... Would people be as against a regular pharmacy, if it were placed in that location? "Regular pharmacy?" Are there any left? I can grab cases of beer at a pharmacy. I can choose liquor from rows and rows of it. I mean, I get ad inserts in the mail touting "your friendly neighborhood pharmacy" and the first thing I see is the photos of cases of beer. So basically it's one-stop shopping. Go the the back counter, get your Librium and other assorted goodies for alcoholism and then go to the front and pick up a few cases of beer. Hey, the pharmacy sells it, must be OK then right? I find it an odd dichotomy. A place touting "wellness" yet, they sell things that contribute to illness.
July 15, 2010 at 9:36 AM Report abuse
common_cents said...
Why stop at just growing Portland's weed next door? How about U.S.M. assisted meth labs...crack houses....drugs done right, supervised, inspected and certified by those budding technologists and entrepreneurs at U.S.M...make sure the labs are LEED compliant and they collect carbon credits for the pot plantation. Illicit drug sales in Portland are huge.....oh wait, I forgot it would cut into the State's alcohol revenue..they're all DEMS' let 'em work out the details.
July 15, 2010 at 9:38 AM Report abuse
common_cents said...
BEBO...pharmacies always sold alcohol since it was a preservative for herbal and other drugs. Abusable? Absolutely, cough syrup, etc. They are the perfect location for a marijuana dispensary....you know exactly what your getting;the price is market driven; and you have a genuine pharmacist trained by UNE!
July 15, 2010 at 9:49 AM Report abuse
PaulPortland said...
They wanted that spot because it is a short walk from Oxford St and Preble. Why not sublease from them? Too close to PHS?
July 15, 2010 at 9:57 AM Report abuse
jake007 said...
I believe without going to the deeper debate UofA has it right. What is the legal defination of a school. I would believe not having any "students" last year an expecting 4 or 5 (whatever that means) hardly defines a school. And Eric in his 8:49 AM post nailed it as well.
July 15, 2010 at 9:58 AM Report abuse
Bryan said...
Bigoted speech directed at a Christian minister and his congregation is okay in America today and not considered "hate" speech. That is very sad. It makes you wonder why people are so hostile to a church that at least according to the story actually tries to reach out and help people in trouble. Had the Legislature required that marijuana for medical purposes be dispensed through pharmacies many of these issues would not have arisen. Allowing stand alone dispensaries to deliver a substance that under federal law it is illegal to dispense will inevitably result, as it has for example in California, in crime and abuse so why is it so hard for people to understand with a little grace that many are concerned about it? I support providing marijuana to patients who need it but it is also perfectly reasonable to control how that is done and to buffer other uses.
July 15, 2010 at 11:02 AM Report abuse
jrhmobile said...
This is easy to resolve. It wasn't a school last year. That means it isn't now. The fact that it could be in the future is irrelevant. NPG's site location has already been picked, so it gets rights to the space. So now, it can't be a school in the future unless IT moves 500 feet away from the now-established facility. What's good for the goose is good for the gander ... And by the way, it is a perfect site for a dispensary -- very secure, with plenty of onsite and closeby parking and easy access to the highway, local hospitals and medical practices as well as public transportation.
July 15, 2010 at 11:32 AM Report abuse
Paul_H said...
Oh my, 28 comments so far and nothing about "deliverance"? Am I the only one hearing banjo music? And what a hoot that some here compare marijuana with crack and heroin. You guys need to get out more.
July 15, 2010 at 12:01 PM Report abuse
Les said...
I don't smoke the green anymore, only in my younger days. But the US is really missing out on a cash cow with not legalizing it and taxing it. I think cigarettes are a few bucks a pack before the tax but the gov adds on $4 or so dollars, basically doubling the cost and pocketing it.
July 15, 2010 at 12:39 PM Report abuse
PatsFanStill said...
tim said... I still don't understand why the marijuana in the pill form isn't used. I thought it capture the basic ingredients? .... I've posted that same queston in previous discussions on this subject. Notice you got very little response, I think one person. What it boils down to is this, it's not about marijuana for medical use, it's about recreational use. If it was truely about the medical issues, you'd be right. Marijuana in pill form would provide the relief those with true medical issues would find relief for and not have the side effects, but that would be no fun now would it? I'm not serious with that last part, I think like most everything else the elected officials touch, this is destined for failure.
July 15, 2010 at 1:27 PM Report abuse
Les said...
Patsfan, in pill form it's synthetic, I don't know if it has the same potency or effects as regular weed though so I can't really speak to it.
July 15, 2010 at 1:44 PM Report abuse
common_cents said...
Paul H...you need to GET out...out of Maine and to California to see where all this marijuana dispensary stuff leads to....that's why I posted the piece on the revenue grubbing OAKLAND city council legalizing pot plantations. The next step is promoting drug manufacturing...remove the THC and toxic ingredients and you have a drug manufacturing plant....everyone knows the best location for a marijuana dispensary is in van parked 501 ft. from a school.
July 15, 2010 at 1:51 PM Report abuse
Chew said...
I wonder if the same "rule" would apply to a regular drug store that sells prescription "hard" drugs or a grocery store that sells booze? If not... I think the people who made the rules were probably smoking something...
July 15, 2010 at 3:15 PM Report abuse
joe said...
look at the sour puss on that guy. i bet thats what common looks like.
July 15, 2010 at 6:17 PM Report abuse
1bright1 said...
It's not an educational occupancy by Code, so what makes it a legal school. Less than 6 students mean the occupancy is classified as business or accessory to the greater occupancy. They need to look into who says and what makes the school an actual school. I'll bet it is not one in the legally defined sense.
July 15, 2010 at 6:41 PM Report abuse
1bright1 said...
I gotta say I agree with Patsfan though, this really isn't about helping sick people for the most part, it's a step toward total legalization and recreational use. You guys couldn't pick worse spokespeople to to prove your points.
July 15, 2010 at 6:44 PM Report abuse
Haiku said...
That site is not only across the street from a nice religious organization, known for helping drug addicts and boozers get free from their behavioral addictions. That site, which a pothead dispensary organization wants, is also very near the Cumberland County Jail. -- OH, WAIT! The Cumberland County sheriff shouldn't be too upset if again potheads get their way! Sheriff Dion supported the statewide medical marijuana referendum, which Maine voters high on dope stupidly passed in November of 1999!
July 15, 2010 at 9:30 PM Report abuse
mainelined said...
If it didn't have students last year and doesn't know how many students will attend this year, it is not a school.
July 16, 2010 at 7:42 AM Report abuse
laloo said...
A pharmacy doesn't need to be a certain distance from a school, so why dispensaries? We need to stop treating marijuana as an illicit drug if it is not meant to be seen that way. With that said, Transplant has a point. Its seems like a sketchy unpleasant place for patients to have to go. Acquiring marijuana should not make the patient feel like there are going to a drug house, that defeats the point of legalizing it as medicine. Perhaps the Sheriff needs to encourage the move. Maybe the school is a cover for relocating after a bad choice.
July 16, 2010 at 8:35 AM Report abuse