With no criticism of applicants intended, we take it as evidence of rigorous review that no companies were chosen to operate medical marijuana dispensaries in two of the state’s eight districts ”“ York County and Washington/Hancock County.
A panel of the state’s Department of Health and Human Services reviewed 27 applications. Three companies were licensed to operate dispensaries in six districts, with Northeast Patients Group selected for four of them.
A sound selection process will serve the interests of the state and patients using the dispensaries. Yet since marijuana is expected to bring relief to many who are suffering, we hope the second round of applications, due to close on Aug. 20, will bring suitable bids for York County and the Downeast area.
The efficacy and appropriateness of medical marijuana is still debated, but there is substantial evidence that it can relieve the pain, nausea and tremors that accompany certain illnesses. Maine voters authorized making such therapy available to those who need it, and the sooner dispensaries are seeing patients, the better.
The availability of marijuana for patients in controlled doses in a well-regulated setting may do more than bring relief to individual patients. The system in Maine, and similar arrangements in other states have the potential to advance understanding of how and why cannabis relieves discomfort.
This approach is seen by some as a risky alternative to federal drug oversight. But the Food and Drug Administration, which modernized the drug industry, should be able to accommodate an new approach to distributing and testing a remedy that has been used for centuries.
The companies will operate as non-profits, but the money involved is likely to be substantial. Northeast Patients Group, which plans to operate in Portland at 959 Congress St., estimates that there will be 5,000 medical marijuana patients in Maine within five years, each consuming 1.5 ounces of marijuana per month. The company hopes to hold its price at $340 per ounce, according to its application, slightly below the black market rate.
Some patients are certain to be at the door waiting when the first dispensary opens later this year. But it’s likely that many will be hesitant to sign up for a substance widely condemned as illicit.
Maine’s voters have done what they could to remove the stigma from medical marijuana, but it’s the state’s physicians who are entitled to make the key judgments of whether to certify patients for this therapy, and whether to advise it.
And over a period of time, they will be the first to know whether or not Maine’s experiment is a success.
— Questions? Comments? Contact Managing Editor Nick Cowenhoven at nickc@journaltribune.com.
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