Determining the best candidates to receive a medical marijuana dispensary license is important. It’s not just about who has the best business background, or who has the most money. The right people need to get licenses to ensure that patients get the best medicine at the best price. Giving a license to one applicant over the other can result in poor medicine quality, supply shortages, price gouging, and a number of other issues. That’s why I don’t like license lotteries.
The licensing process in Massachusetts has been racked with issues, leading to multiple lawsuits against the State of Massachusetts. Another lawsuit was filed recently. Per Marijuana Business Daily:
The latest lawsuit, filed this week in Suffolk Superior Court, alleges that licensing officials passed over three medical marijuana companies that received top marks in the application process, without providing an explanation.
In January, state health officials initially told the trio – Beacon Wellness Center Inc., JM Farm’s Patient Group and Mass Organic Therapy Inc. – that they needed to remove various executives who failed background checks.
In response, the companies ousted those executives. But the businesses still did not receive MMJ licenses, the suit contends.
For the sake of the patients in Massachusetts, I hope the litigation gets handled smoothly and swiftly. I hope that the right people are getting licenses in Massachusetts to operate medical marijuana dispensaries. If not, the program will be plagued by problems. Meanwhile patients will continue to suffer without the proper safe access to quality meds that they deserve.