Burning questions

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Communities brace for medical marijuana dispensaries

In just a few months, Epping residents will vote on an ordinance that would restrict where a medical marijuana dispensary could open in town. However, according to Joe Foley, chairman of the town’s planning board, no one has actually applied to open a dispensary in the town.

“There’s nothing on the table in front of us to deal with,” he said. “There’s quite a lot of talk and speculation about something that hasn’t happened yet.”

All that’s happened so far is a presentation to Epping selectmen in late 2014 by PalliaTech, a New York-based company that owns dispensaries in other states. That presentation, though, was enough to generate some “emotional” reactions from residents, Foley said, who were concerned about dispensaries opening in or near residential neighborhoods. And so the planning board began writing an ordinance that would restrict dispensaries to the town’s industrial and commercial zones. The board voted on Jan. 8 to put the ordinance on the town meeting ballot in March.

The ordinance addresses residents’ concerns while also making it clear that dispensaries have the legal right to operate in the town, according to Foley.

“There are people out there who need (medical marijuana), and we’ve (addressed) both sides of the argument,” Foley said. “We don’t want to play a game with (potential dispensaries).”

New Hampshire officials are currently collecting applications from companies interested in opening medical marijuana dispensaries, also known as alternative treatment centers (ATCs). Though only four dispensaries are slated to open in the state, Epping and other cities and towns are looking at ways to regulate ATCs should they come to their communities.

“There’s quite a lot of talk and speculation about something that hasn’t happened yet.” — Joe Foley, Epping Planning Board

Gearing up
State legislators legalized medical marijuana in 2013, but rules for the Therapeutic Use of Cannabis Program, a division of the Department of Health and Human Services, weren’t finalized until the end of 2014. Rules for how patients and caregivers register with the state were adopted in August, while rules for ATCs were adopted in late November.

On Dec. 19, DHHS issued its request for applications from businesses interested in opening ATCs, according to John Martin, a manager with the state’s Bureau of Licensing and Certification, which oversees the therapeutic cannabis program. Businesses have until Jan. 28 to apply. Martin would not say how many applications the agency has received or which communities those applicants are looking at.

“We can’t discuss the (request for applications) or any aspects of it. … Once we make a selection, everything will become public,” he said.

The state’s law clears the way for at least two and no more than four nonprofit dispensaries to open in the state. The agency has divided the state into four regions — Region 1 encompasses the eastern part of the state, including Rockingham, Strafford, and Belknap counties; Region 2 is the southern part of the state; Region 3 includes the western part of the state; and Region 4 includes the North Country. Each region can house one ATC.

An entity can only operate one ATC; however, Martin said that if a company operates an ATC in Region 3, it could also operate an ATC in another region. He said the exception is a way to encourage applicants to consider the western part of the state, which has a lower population than the other regions.

Martin said the agency hopes to select applicants by the end of February.

“At that point, they can start to become operational and do the things they need to do to open, such as installing security (measures), finding a physical location, and growing the product,” he said.

The state’s first ATCs could open as early as the end of the summer.

Community concerns
Epping isn’t the first Seacoast community to address the ATC issue. In November 2014, voters in York, Maine, approved an ordinance that restricts medical marijuana growing operations to industrial zones in the town. The ordinance followed the opening of a medical marijuana growing operation on White Birch Lane, which prompted traffic and safety concerns from nearby residents. However, the White Birch Lane operation was grandfathered into the ordinance. Maine legalized medical marijuana in 2009 and the first of the state’s eight dispensaries opened in 2011.

“With only four (dispensaries) in the state, I wouldn’t bet on the odds of one ending up in Epping.” — Joe Foley, Epping Planning Board

As medical marijuana moves closer to becoming a reality in New Hampshire, communities are looking for ways to regulate where dispensaries can open. Under the state’s law, ATCs cannot open within 1,000 feet of a school or drug-free zone, or in residential areas.

Steve Buckley, legal services counsel for the New Hampshire Municipal Association, said the organization has been receiving inquiries from member communities about how towns and cities can regulate where dispensaries operate. Many communities, including Concord, are considering ordinances similar to Epping’s proposal that keep dispensaries in areas zoned for industrial areas.

“Most of the activity we’ve seen is that cities or towns are deciding, ‘We’re going to place these facilities in certain areas of town,’” he said. ATC applicants must have a written statement from a community’s land-use board or other authority stating that the ATC’s location complies with local land-use ordinances, he added.

According to Buckley, it would be difficult for a community to legally prohibit a dispensary from opening. That sort of restriction would be based on the community’s zoning regulations; if a community has areas zoned for therapeutic clinics or medical facilities, a dispensary would likely fall under those uses.

“The real challenge for a town or city is to say, to the extent the state has recognized there’s going to be at least two of these facilities, we should be prepared to identify some part of town where this use might be permissible,” he said.

Ultimately, Foley doesn’t expect a dispensary to open in Epping, though he does believe voters will approve the ordinance in March. He said the town would watch how other communities deal with dispensaries in the context of land-use ordinances.

“With only four (dispensaries) in the state, I wouldn’t bet on the odds of one ending up in Epping,” he said.