​Pro-marijuana groups step up advocacy, awareness

Mickey Martin, founder of the Northeastern Institute of Cannabis, marched with over 50 people on Oct. 14 to bring awareness to the stall in implementing medical marijuana.

Jessica Bartlett

Reporter- Boston Business Journal

Mickey Martin opened the Northeastern Institute of Cannabis at the end of September, and already he has 50 people enrolled.

The class, taught by the “Medical Marijuana 101″ author himself, is intended to offer enrollees 50 hours of training through the 12-course program all about working in the marijuana industry, capped by a two-hour exam.

Martin is one of the many looking to move the marijuana industry from the shadows into the light of legitimacy, yet it’s an initiative running into problems.

“I’ve talked to a lot of other patients that have to get medication from illicit sources in a Target parking lot…everyone is asking for answers we don’t have because DPH has been silent on the process and hasn’t given any firm dates of when they will approve places and keep pushing it back every few months,” Martin said.

The Department of Public Health has said that dispensaries are on their own schedules to completing inspections, though some could be open as early as this winter. The next round of dispensary approvals will occur in early November.

But as the weeks mosey by without progress or announcement, those looking to bring marijuana into the state are losing their patience.

“People invest hundreds of thousands of dollars of developing not just a dispensary but a huge service to grow the industry…it’s a big investment, for them the have the ground moving beneath them all the time is frustrating from the business angle and for patients to have no access,” Martin said.

Martin subsequently marched with over 50 people on Oct. 14 to bring awareness to the stall.

In addition to advocates pressing for quicker enactment of current laws around medical marijuana, others are pushing for more lenient regulations around the drug.

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​Pro-marijuana groups step up advocacy, awareness