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Delay in opening of Sussex compassion center

First State expecting to open second location by the end of March
January 18, 2017

Medical marijuana patients anticipating a January opening of a compassion center in Sussex County will now have to wait until at least the end of March.

Mark Lally, First State Compassion Center president, said landlord delays prevented timely access to the property where the compassion center will be located, resulting in the shift.

“We completed the construction bidding process and then encountered some delays due to the holidays,” said Lally, in a prepared statement Jan. 6. “We are now on track for completion and opening the Sussex location by the end of March 2017.”

The Cannabis Bureau of Delaware’s Zoë Patchell said she is disappointed with the delay. Sussex County’s patients suffering with debilitating illnesses will now have to wait even longer to access their nontoxic medication, she said, while opiates and other prescription medications are readily available.

“Patients that have now been waiting four years for safe and equal access will be devastated by more delays,” she wrote in a Jan. 9 email.

Since opening its Wilmington location in June 2015, First State Compassion Center has been the state’s only distribution point for medical marijuana. A little more than a year later, in October 2016, the Division of Public Health announced First State had been awarded the contract for a Sussex dispensary. At the time, First State said a January opening was planned.

A month prior to the First State announcement, the state announced New York-based Columbia Care had been awarded the contract for a dispensary in Kent County. This location is expected to open in the second half of 2017.

Andrea Wojcik, division spokeswoman, said the state understands there can be delays associated with building modification.

“We look forward to the Sussex County compassion center opening as soon as possible so that patients in Kent and Sussex counties have a compassion center that is more conveniently located to where they live,” she wrote in a Jan. 9 email.

According to Wojcik, as of June 30, 2016, the number of medical marijuana patients in Delaware is 1,405 – 922 in New Castle County, 257 in Sussex County and 226 in Kent County. She said the numbers appear to not have changed significantly since July.

Patchell said the drive to Wilmington is over 80 miles one way from Georgetown, so Sussex County patients are the most affected by the delay. Patients are left with few options – make the long round-trip drive, purchase illegally or resort to pharmaceuticals.

Lally said First State is quickly moving forward to complete the buildout of the compassion center, whose location has not yet been disclosed. He said there will be a job-hiring event for qualified applicants in the next few weeks. 

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