Cumberland An owner of a newly-licensed medical marijuana dispensary said the business will locate along Interstate 68 on Beall Street.
Dr. Sajal Roy, co-owner of the Allegany Medical Marijuana Dispensary, said the Beall Street site will meet state requirements and offer the parking needed.
The dispensary will be located at 100 Beall St., the former location of Merling Wholesale and Biederlack of America. Prior to those businesses, the Loyal or Order of Moose Lodge No. 271 was located in the 20,000- square-foot building for many years. In fact, the area is often referred to by locals as "The Moose Curve."
Roy and his partner, local businessman George Merling, were notified Dec. 9 that they were granted a stage one dispensary license. The first state-level meeting for dispensary owners was held Wednesday in Ellicott City with Roy attending.
"The next stage is a comprehensive background and financial check," said Roy. "After that an inspection."
The Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission has been overseeing the rollout of the medical marijuana industry. Roy said medical cannabis may be available to patients by the last quarter of 2017 barring any snags in the process.
Roy is the owner of Factor One Source Pharmacy, 308 Virginia Ave., which opened in 2014. Factor One is a specialty pharmacy that treats complex chronic diseases.
State regulations require medical marijuana dispensaries to be housed in a standalone facility. Roy’s initial plan was to place the dispensary in a separate building beside the Factor One Source Pharmacy.
"We are going to move the location to a free-standing building right by Route 68 in the old Moose building," said Roy. "We are changing locations because of the massive amount of patient interest. We have had over 1,500 patients reach out to us since two weeks ago. I’m really taken back by the amount of interest. We’ll need a bigger facility, more parking, and this will mean more jobs, hopefully."
At Wednesday’s meeting, Roy learned more about the rollout.
"They did not give a timeline," he said. "The executive director wants people to have access to medical marijuana in 2017. It sounds like by the fourth quarter we’ll be ready go."
State guidelines stipulated that two dispensaries would be granted a license in each of Maryland’s 47 senatorial districts. The Allegany Medical Marijuana Dispensary is one of two dispensaries that received a stage one license in District 1, which includes Allegany, Garrett and eastern Washington County.
The second license was granted to The Apothecary, LLC. Attempts to determine where the dispensary will be located have been unsuccessful.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker
Full Article: Medical Cannabis Dispensary To Locate Along I-68
Author: Greg Larry
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Photo Credit: Steve Bittner
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