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Chicopee seeks proposals for medical marijuana dispensary

Date: 6/26/2015

CHICOPEE – Interested in entering the medical marijuanoma business and setting up shop in Chicopee? You’ve got until July 3 to submit a proposal.

With no medical marijuana dispensary serving Hampden County, the city of Chicopee has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for such a business. According to the RFP, the facility would cultivate marijuana, as well as dispense it to people with the proper prescription from a physician.

“This is an attempt to capture a process that produces an applicant which best reflects compliance with both state and local regulations,” City Planner Lee Pouliot said.

Once the application are submitted they will be reviewed by a panel which will then make recommendations to Mayor Richard Kos to pass to the state. The applicants must be a non-profit organization and pay a fee and identify a location to with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. The location must be in compliance to the city’s ordinance on such a facility.

Among the requirements is a financial summary of the cost of the dispensary and an estimate of the revenues of and expenses of it. There must also be a complete business plan, a general description of the business, an organizational chart and a project design of the facility.

The dispensary must also be accessible to highways and “major transportation networks” according to the RFP The RFP details the expectations for security governing the facility. These include: “preventing the distribution of marijuana to minors other than as allowed by state law and regulations; preventing marijuana cultivation, possession and/or use on city property; preventing drugged driving and other adverse public health consequences associated with marijuana use; preventing violence and the use of firearms in the cultivation and distribution of marijuana; preventing state-authorized marijuana activity from being utilized as a cover or pretext for the trafficking of illegal drugs or other illegal activity; preventing the diversion of marijuana from states where it is legal under state law in some form to other states; and preventing revenue from the sale of marijuana from supporting criminal enterprises, gangs and cartels.”

Applicants must deliver the proposal to the Purchasing Office no later than July 3 at 4 p.m.

“The distribution of medical marijuana is licensed by the Commonwealth,” Mayor Richard Kos said. “This is an opportunity for the city of Chicopee to take part in this business in a way that provides the appropriate medical response while at the same time complying with our ordinances, rules, regulations, and laws.”