The Consumer Protection Department approved six medical marijuana dispensaries Thursday that will be located in Hartford, Branford, Bridgeport, South Windsor, Uncasville, and Bristol.
The facilities will be able to legally dispense the marijuana grown by four producers of the product. The approval of the six dispensaries was one of the last “necessary pieces of the medical marijuana program,” Consumer Protection Commissioner William Rubenstein said in a press release.
In January, Rubenstein gave the green light to four companies located in West Haven, Portland, Simsbury, and Watertown to grow the marijuana. There were 16 applications seeking a state license to grow the marijuana and 27 applications for licenses to dispense the marijuana. Some of those applications were submitted two or three times by the same entities.
“The six dispensary facilities were chosen through a competitive process,” Rubenstein said. “Each applicant was required to provide detailed information, including the applicant’s qualifications and experience, a business plan identifying the products and services it will offer, security features, and plans to provide benefits to the local community.”
The winners of the dispensary licenses were Arrow Alternative Care Inc. of Hartford, Bluepoint Apothecary LLC of Branford, D&B Wellness LLC of Bridgeport; Prime Wellness of Connecticut LLC of South Windsor, Thames Valley Apothecary LLC of Uncasville, and The Healing Corner Inc. of Bristol.
When it began accepting applications for dispensaries the department envisioned giving out three to five licenses based on geographic location, but in the end decided on six.
“As retail points from which products are dispensed and educational materials are provided to patients, the dispensary facilities will be the public face of Connecticut’s medical marijuana program, and therefore, careful thought and deliberation went into selection of the most qualified applicants,” Rubenstein said.
The regulations for the program were approved last August and applications for those seeking a dispensary and production facility licenses were submitted last November.
At the end of January, Rubenstein announced that four companies had received production licenses. The announcement was made at Advanced Grows Labs in West Haven. The company later came under fire after complaints from local officials in Colorado were uncovered by the media, but the partner involved stepped down from his role and the state decided to allow the company to keep its license.
The six dispensaries will be eligible to receive their licenses upon payment of the $5,000 license fee and submission of certain final documentation, which must occur within 30 days. The facilities will then begin construction as needed, hire and train staff, and develop educational programs and materials.
The program will be fully operational and patients will be able to pick up their marijuana at the dispensaries later this summer.
There are 1,990 individuals qualified to purchase medical marijuana in the state.
