HALLOWELL – The state’s newest medical marijuana dispensary opened to the public Tuesday for the first and last time.

Wellness Connection of Maine hosted an open house at its dispensary, which recently began seeing patients by appointment. Now, only patients and their caregivers will have access to the office at 115 Water St.

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The Wellness Connection of Maine dispensary is reached through a side door at the back of 115 Water St. in Hallowell. The downstairs front of the building houses the Liberal Cup, a brew pub and restaurant. Staff photo by Joe Phelan

Executive Director Becky DeKeuster, left, shakes hands with Hallowell Mayor Charlotte Warren during a Tuesday news conference at the Wellness Connection of Maine dispensary in Hallowell. Staff photo by Joe Phelan

Executive Director Becky DeKeuster speaks during a Tuesday news conference at the Wellness Connection of Maine dispensary in Hallowell. The medicine is stored in and dispensed from the cupboards behind the counter. Staff photo by Joe Phelan

Since its first full week of operation, last week, the dispensary has served about 30 patients, said Faith Benedetti, who works in patient services.

Eventually, established patients will be able to stop in without an appointment, said Wellness Connection Executive Director Becky DeKeuster. She hopes that will be possible this spring.

The dispensary’s opening has been delayed several times. Wellness Connection, which changed its name from Northeast Patients Group last month, won licenses in 2010 to operate dispensaries in four of eight regions in Maine.

“It has been a really long road to get here, but we are celebrating the end of this part of the journey,” DeKeuster told the crowd of Wellness Connection board members and employees, city officials and media at the open house.

In September, Wellness Connection began accepting patients at a dispensary in Thomaston, which is also the location of the nonprofit company’s growing operation.

Wellness Connection’s dispensary in Portland is under construction, and a planned dispensary in Brewer is getting site plan review, DeKeuster said.

Thomaston and Hallowell have served at least 50 patients total, DeKeuster said. She declined to estimate how many patients Wellness Connection of Maine could serve eventually.

“We are well prepared to serve as many patients as need us,” she said.

Concerns raised recently about Wellness Connection’s medical marijuana capacity – including from a man once affiliated with its growing operation who said the Thomaston facility cannot support the patient base – are based on old information, DeKeuster said.

“Our policy is not to discuss cultivation facilities for security reasons,” she said. “The downside of that is it allows people to make assumptions.”

Kennebec Journal Susan McMillan can be contacted at 621-5645 or at: smcmillan@mainetoday.com

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