COUNCIL OPENS DOOR TO MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARY IN CITY

PORTLAND - The City Council formally opened the door Monday to
Portland's first medical marijuana dispensary.

Councilors voted unanimously to add dispensaries to the list of
permitted land uses in three business zones where pharmacies and other
retail stores now operate.

The Northeast Patients Group plans to open a state-licensed, nonprofit
dispensary in Portland in December. Exactly where the dispensary will
be is still not clear.

The group's preferred location is a former Key Bank building at 959
Congress St., near the corner of St. John Street. That building is in
one of the downtown business districts where dispensaries are now permitted.

It also is within 500 feet of a property occupied by a church and a
small private school, the Christian Academy of Portland. State law
says no dispensary can be within 500 feet of a public or private school.

Catherine Cobb, director of licensing for the Department of Health and
Human Services, said Monday that the Christian Academy of Portland is
not a state-licensed private school and that she is researching
whether its presence makes the Congress Street site off-limits to the
dispensary.

The Rev. Stephen Reynolds of the Deliverance Center said the church's
school typically has a small number of students from kindergarten
through high school. It has operated in all but a few years since
1978, although it did not operate last year, he said. Reynolds said he
expects four or five students this fall.

Rebecca DeKeuster, chief operating officer of the Northeast Patients
Group, has said she was not aware of the school until last week and
will comply with any decision by the state. She has not signed a lease
for the former bank building and said the zoning changes approved by
city councilors Monday allow for plenty of suitable alternative sites.

Monday's vote followed a failed proposal by the city's attorney to
temporarily ban dispensaries and write more detailed guidelines. City
councilors instead asked for zoning changes to allow the initial
dispensary without delay.