MARIJUANA DISPENSARY SEEKING NEW SITE

AUGUSTA -- The state-approved operator of a proposed regional medical
marijuana dispensary has given up on one site but hopes to find a
suitable one not too far away.

Northeast Patients Group Executive Director Becky DeKeuster said the
group is no longer considering 10 Middle Rd. to open a medical
marijuana dispensary that would serve the Augusta and Waterville
region. But the nonprofit dispensary operator is still looking for a
place to start a dispensary in or near Augusta.

"We remain committed to locating in this area, as it is the service
and population center for a significant number of patients," said
DeKeuster, who moved to Augusta to start Northeast Patients Group
dispensaries in Maine. "The proximity of the Alfond cancer center and
the hospital make this area the sensible choice for our patients, as
well.

"Wherever we locate, we will work with the city government and our
business and residential neighbors to successfully site our
dispensary."

DeKeuster said Northeast Patients Group continues to hear regularly
from patients in the region, inquiring when a dispensary will open so
they can get their medication.

Those include a 70-year-old man dying of cancer who has no place to
get medical marijuana.

DeKeuster declined to be more specific in describing where other
potential dispensary sites in the area may be.

Matt Nazar, city planner and deputy development director, said any
proposal for a medical marijuana dispensary in Augusta would be the
subject of at least one Planning Board public hearing.

"It would absolutely need to go to the Planning Board for conditional
use approval, at a minimum," Nazar said.

Northeast Patients Group has been awarded state licenses to operate
four of Maine's first eight medical marijuana dispensaries, including
the lone dispensary in Kennebec and Somerset counties.

DeKeuster said the organization she leads is on track to have
dispensaries operating this spring, which she acknowledged is later
than they had hoped to open.

However, she said she understands the delay and lawmakers' need to
make sure dispensaries are located appropriately.

"The regulations that are in place at the state and local levels are
necessary for a number of reasons," she said. "Especially to ensure
that dispensaries fit into their communities in a beneficial way, and
to ensure that patients have safe access to a variety of medicines
that are affordable, consistent and contaminant-free. These are no
easy tasks, but by following the regulations that are in place, we can
help guarantee that Maine's dispensary program meets the highest
standards of patient care and community responsiveness."

City councilors in Waterville, where Northeast Patients Group also had
considered opening a dispensary, voted in August to enact a six-month
moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries.

In June, Augusta city councilors approved zoning rules for medical
marijuana dispensaries that limit the location of such facilities to
the city's Medical District -- an area encompassing the Alfond Center
for Cancer Care and proposed home to MaineGeneral's new, $362 million
regional hospital in north Augusta.

The 10 Middle Rd. site, owned by local development firm Harpers II,
was proposed to be included in the Medical District. But the Planning
Board voted to remove it after neighbors objected to the prospect of a
dispensary in what they described as a residential
neighborhood.

In November, Harpers withdrew a proposal, submitted to the Planning
Board, to change the zoning of the 10 Middle Rd. site to allow a
medical marijuana dispensary. The site is now listed for sale.

DeKeuster has said previously they considered, but rejected, locating
a dispensary within the planned new MaineGeneral Medical Center
complex but found space there would be too expensive.

She also said it would take too long to build a new building as a
dispensary.