By Louisa Hufstader and Joe Markman
All 12 groups that submitted applications to become the state-approved medical marijuana providers in Norfolk County have passed the first round of the application process.
"Invited to Phase 2," as the Massachusetts Department of Public Health puts it, for Norfolk County are the following businesses, listed with their principals' names:
Apex Compassion & Wellness Center, Inc., Rich Lesley
Baystate Medical Enterprises, Inc., Catherine Cametti
Bio-Care Collaborative, Inc., John Madigan
G2 New England, Inc., Fotis Loulourgas
Growing Health Wellness Center, Inc., Darya Ghazian-Tafreshi
Mass Relief, Inc.. Steven Hurd
Mass. Compassionate Patient Care Corp., Aleksander Murakhovskiy
Massmedicum Corp., James Kurnick
New England Treatment Access, Inc., Arnon Vered
The Anita W. Compassion Center. Inc., Jonathan Waxman
The CAS Foundation, Inc., Jayne Vining
Here is the state's full list of applicants approved for the second round.
To move forward, the successful first-round applicants will need to put down a $30,000 non-refundable fee for each application. (See Massachusetts Fees for Use and Sale of Medical Marijuana.)
The voter-approved Compassionate Use law allows the state to register up to 35 non-profit marijuana dispensaries across the state in the first year, with at least one but no more than five per county.
State officials plan an informational meeting with applicants Oct. 10 in Somerville.
Does Norfolk County need more than one medical marijuana dispensary? Who should win the right to dispense medical pot here? Tell us in the comments.
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