The State of Delaware has issued a request for proposals for “Compassion Centers” that dispense medical marijuana.
The RFP, issued early this month by the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services, seeks proposals for sites in Kent and Sussex Proposals are due by March 30, 2016.
Click on the link below for the nearly 100-page document.
The first such center, The First State Compassion Center, opened in New Castle County, near Wilmington early this year under the management of Mark Lally, a former State Trooper, lobbyist and former aide to U.S. Sen. Tom Carper, who first looked at a center in southern Delaware.
Also involved in First State is the former operator of a similar enterprise in Rhode Island.
Lally was sued by a former partner at the proposed Sussex Center. However, the case was dismissed.
The center grows and dispenses marijuana under strict security. In other states, medical marijuana can be sold in storefront locations.
Of late, the center has become more entrepreneurial, as seen in the following social media post:
“Attention patients: Take a break from the long lines and stress of Holiday shopping on Black Friday by stopping by FSCC today for our Black Friday event! We will be gifting the first 100 patients in the door a FREE gram of 818 Headband with your purchase. Also, keep an eye out for our First State’s Finest 14-gram Package.”
The state opened the first center, a few years after the passage of a law authorizing medical marijuana.
The opening was delayed, due to opposition from the federal government. That opposition has softened, with Colorado and Oregon legalizing the drug. A referendum in Ohio calling for legalization was voted down.
Gov. Jack Markell said legalization in Delaware would not occur during his administration.
Marijuana is used to treat pain and nausea from cancer, post-traumatic stress disorder and other conditions. A law was passed last year that widened the use of the drug to a rare disease that hits children.
Delaware law spells out the specific conditions that would allow doctors to prescribe medical marijuana to their patients.
