MOUNTING OPPOSITION IN RHODE ISLAND TO PROPOSED MEDICAL MARIJUANA
CENTERS

Opposition is mounting in several communities where there are
proposals to open the state's first medical-marijuana compassion
center for patients licensed to smoke marijuana for a variety of
medical maladies.

Monday night, the Woonsocket City Council passed a resolution that
says, in part, that the largest city in northern Rhode Island "is not
conveniently located for patients from throughout" the state, so it is
an inappropriate location for a compassion center. Last month, the
Coventry Town Council passed a similar, but much more detailed resolution.

The Coventry resolution says that the proposed Community Care Health
and Wellness compassion center, at 3-5 Battey Ave., is in a "heavily
populated residential area," while the planned location to grow the
marijuana at 7 Clark St., "is in close proximity to an elementary school."

Last month, Providence residents near the proposed Thomas C. Slater
Compassion Center, at 431 Harris Ave., expressed similar complaints
about the full-service marijuana center that would be housed in a
vacant warehouse that used to serve as a storage facility for state
court files.

The growing opposition comes after months of little to no objections
over the concept of opening at least one and up to three compassion
centers in the state. The Slater and Community Health Care groups are
among 15 applicants that are interested in opening a nonprofit center
under rules developed by the state Department of Health. There are
applications for other centers in Providence as well as for marijuana
retail sites in Pawtucket, Portsmouth, the Warwick/Cranston area and
northern Rhode Island.

The proposal for the Rhode Island Medical Marijuana Dispensary in the
northern portion of the state prompted Monday night's resolution. When
the proposal for the center was made to the state in May it did not
include an exact location.

Dennis Gentili, president of Rhode Island Medical, said that the
council did not invite him to the meeting, nor have members ever
talked to him about his proposal. He said that he would have been
"more than happy" to discuss his plans. Gentili wants to open the
retail compassion center in a former bank in the Park Square Mall.

His cultivation would be in another part of the city.

The Health Department was expected to select at least one operator of
a compassion center last week, but that decision has been postponed
until September.

"We want to ensure that all information included in each of the 15
applications for a compassion center license is reviewed carefully and
thoroughly," said David R. Gifford, Health Department director. "Due
to the larger than anticipated number of applicants and the volume of
material submitted, [the Health Department] needs more time to
complete this process."

Annemarie Beardsworth, Health Department spokeswoman, said that as
long as the proposals adhere to local zoning requirements, the
opposition to the centers will have no bearing on the department's
selections.

David C. Hughes, director of Community Care Health in Coventry, is not
so sure. He said he feels that the Coventry Town Council and other
appointed officials are trying to smear his proposed compassion center
to sway the Health Department from granting him a license.

"It's going to taint the review process," he predicted.

Hughes is troubled that the Town Council never informed or invited him
to address concerns that were included in the resolution. He said that
many of the council's objections were based on inaccurate information.
For example, he said that the marijuana would be cultivated in a
building 2,000 feet from the elementary school, four times farther
than the required minimum of 500 feet.

Hughes also said that Police Chief Ronald DaSilva "incorrectly"
informed the council that Hughes and his staff did not contact the
Police Department. He said that the center's chief of operations had
scheduled a meeting with Maj. Richard Schmitter to discuss their
security plans and willingness to work with local law
enforcement.

"We understand the concern of the Town Council and town officials
regarding our proposal to operate a compassion center, but we are
confident all concerns would have been adequately addressed if the
Town Council had not acted prematurely and recklessly by not acquiring
and learning all facts before passing and adopting the resolution."