MARIJUANA CENTER MIGHT MOVE IN

COVENTRY - An application has been filed to open a medical marijuana
dispensary or compassion center in Coventry.

Starting March 18 and ending May 17 the Rhode Island Department of
Health was accepting applications for the operation of up to three
"medical marijuana compassion centers."

On May 28, Director of Health David R. Gifford released a notice of
public hearing that stated the Rhode Island Department of Health had
received 15 completed applications in response to the open
application period. The public had the opportunity to be heard on the
applications at a June 29 hearing at Capitol Hill in Providence.

Helen Drew, a spokesperson for the Department of Health, said the
hearing was held to "ask for input from the public, patients and communities."

She said it provided for the people evaluating the applications -
state employees from the Health Department and others - to see if
there was anything said that would add or reduce points given to the
applications. The hearing had the potential of reducing the scores or
raising the scores by five points.

The report of those evaluating the applications is due out July 29
and Drew confirmed that nothing would happen with the centers until then.

The application to open Community Care Health and Wellness Inc. was
received by the Department of Health on May 17. The site of the
proposed compassion center on the application is 3-5 Battey Ave.

The Times learned about the compassion center application from a
letter to the editor from Battey Avenue residents. The concerns that
the 10 residents cited in the letter were increased traffic on the
narrow dead end street "that is difficult to enter from and exit
onto," they wrote.

The proposed owners of the compassion center are David Hughes of
Coventry, who would act as chief clinical officer; Gregory Soscia of
Greene, who would act as chief executive officer; and Michael
Cersosimo of Warwick, who would act as chief operations officer.

Hughes already owns the building at 3-5 Battey Ave., which is
currently being used as a multi-family residence, and he said if
approved he will make the necessary conversions on the building,
which is already zoned for the desired use.

The property is zoned as Village Main Street Commercial (VMC) and the
application states that two of the applicants met with Town Planner
Paul Sprague who confirmed that no variances appear to be required
for these uses as the VMC zoning allows the property to be used for
"a health services business," including a drugstore or medical or
dental office.

Another concern of the Battey Avenue residents was the proximity to
the middle school and the bike path, which children utilize to reach
Paine Park, Foster Memorial Park and Rice Field.

The property is located further than the required 500 feet from a
public or private school and is 1,803 feet away from the closest
school, the Alan Shawn Feinstein Middle School.

"Almost four times" the required distance set by the Department of
Health, Hughes said.

Hughes heard that Battey Avenue residents attended the public hearing
in Providence, but Hughes himself, though he arrived early, could not
get into the hearing because it was already packed, he said.

Hughes has his Doctorate of Pharmacy and has experience managing over
30 community pharmacies at one time, he said.

The letter from residents ends with the statement that they "have
little confidence that Community Care Health and Wellness, Inc. will
be able to ensure safety and provide the security required to operate
a compassion center at 3-5 Battey Avenue."

He said the security model he has put in place is at minimum like
that at a local CVS or Rite Aid Pharmacy. They have consulted with
ADP Business Security and would have a direct link to the Coventry
Police Station, which is located only 180 feet from the property.

Hughes said there was misconception about the center.

He said a compassion center is no different than a pharmacy. It is
just a pharmacy that dispenses only one drug, he said. "In my
opinion," he said, in dealing with and managing other pharmacies, "I
don't think it needs any more security," than those, but he did state
he believed it has more.

In response to concerns raised by the letter, Hughes notes that
regular pharmacies carry thousands of tablets of OxyContin, codeine
and other abused drugs, some probably more abused by high school and
middle school kids than marijuana ever has been.

Having armed security guards would only cost the patients more, he said.

Hughes believes the site is convenient for not only Coventry, but
also the entire state, as Coventry is right in the center.

There is a RIPTA bus stop less than 200 feet away, he said, and it is
no further than 30 miles from all of the state's hospitals, he said.

Hughes said he hopes the application selection process will not
become political. He said some of the applications present federal
conflicts of interest because some physicians want to prescribe and
distribute marijuana. He thinks a pharmacist running the clinical
operations makes the most sense and that pharmacists are required to
take a law exam which allows him to know the laws governing the facility.

He is licensed in Rhode Island and eight other states as a pharmacist.

If approved, Hughes said they will go through the right channels with
the town and it will take three to four months to cultivate the
marijuana needed to open the center.

The proposed site to cultivate the marijuana is at 7 Clark Mill St.,
a facility owned by Bruce Soscia. The center would lease the facility
from him and be granted no ownership there according to the application.

The Department of Health will only approve three applications and
these will be the first three compassion centers in the state.

"It's a brand new type of operation," Hughes said.

Community Care Health and Wellness' application can be viewed in its
entirety on the Department of Health's website at
www.health.ri.gov/news/temp/mmp/CommunityCareHealthWellness.pdf and
all 15 applications can be viewed at www.health.ri.gov/programs/medicalmarijuana