DISPENSARY OPERATORS GO TO PLAN B

Tim And Jennifer Smale, Of Vienna, Not Alone In Their Struggle To Find
Site Space

WILTON -- A Vienna couple's plan to open a medical marijuana
dispensary on U.S. Route 2 has fallen through, and they're now eyeing
sites in the Lewiston-Auburn area for the western Maine clinic.

But the vacant office building next to Dexter Supply in Wilton still
may house marijuana-growing operations.

Farmington contractor Luke Sirois is moving forward with plans to
purchase the building and open a garden center with individual, locked
rooms in which caregivers of medical marijuana patients can grow the
plant.

Sirois, who owns Western Maine Electric & Excavation, applied to the
Department of Health and Human Services to open a dispensary in
western Maine, but was beaten out by Tim and Jennifer Smale in a
competitive selection process last month.

Tim Smale said he originally planned to buy the Wilton office
building, but since has decided he'd rather lease space in a more
populated area. Smale said he'll offer a home-delivery service for
patients in more rural areas, like Franklin County.

The new medical marijuana law, passed by voters in November, allows
for one dispensary in each of the state's eight public health
districts. The western Maine district comprises Franklin, Oxford and
Androscoggin counties.

The Smales' nonprofit, called Remedy Compassion Center, was one of
three groups named by the state last month to run six of the eight
dispensaries. No applicants in the York and Down East districts were
selected, and DHHS is accepting a second round of applications for
those areas.

Sirois has said he'll apply to both districts. The Smales said they're
considering applying, as well.

But, for now, Tim Smale said, he's focusing on finding the right
location for his western Maine clinic.

Smale said he's looking for a building in an industrial or commercial
zone that isn't near houses and can be tightly secured.

"A Fort Knox, basically," he said.

The Smales aren't the only dispensary operators having trouble nailing
down a site.

Northeast Patients Group, which was selected to open four of the
clinics, has run into roadblocks at a few of their proposed locations.

In Hermon, where the group proposed to open a clinic and cultivate the
marijuana for all four clinics, local officials enacted a last-minute
moratorium on medical-marijuana dispensaries in July, preventing those
plans from moving forward.

Catherine Cobb, director of DHHS's Licensing and Regulatory Division,
said Northeast is "in the final throes" of negotiations with the town,
which will lift its moratorium once it finalizes zoning regulations
for dispensaries.

In central Maine, Cobb said, Northeast is still trying to figure out
whether they'll open a clinic in Augusta, where there are strict
zoning regulations, or Waterville, where city councilors will vote
tonight on whether to enact a moratorium on accepting applications and
issuing permits for marijuana-related facilities.

"We're still investigating our options," Becky DeKeuster, Northeast's
chief executive officer, said about potential central Maine sites.

"I would love to be in Augusta," she said.

A question arose about Northeast's proposed Portland site, a former
Key Bank on Congress Street, which appeared to be within 500 feet of a
school -- the state's one zoning restriction. But DHHS since has
cleared the site, Cobb said. Now, it's just a matter of signing a
lease, said DeKeuster.

Meanwhile, Sirois' group, called Ahead Care, is polishing its
application for the York and Down East districts and preparing to
close on the Wilton building, which should happen within a couple of
weeks, said Mike Danforth, one of Sirois' partners.

Danforth said opening a caregiver collective has been Sirois' back-up
plan all along. The group still hopes to get the chance to run a
dispensary, too, he said, but is realistic about its chances of being
selected.

Cobb said no one yet has submitted paperwork for the second round of
applications, which ends Aug. 20. She suspects they'll all come in
right before the deadline, as they did in the first round.

"We all think it's going to be a lot more competitive this time,"
Danforth said.