PROVIDENCE – The Rhode Island Patient Advocacy Coalition (RIPAC), a nonprofit medical marijuana advocacy group, is scheduled to host a forum next Thursday for those interested in applying for “compassion center” licenses to grow and distribute medicinal cannabis under the Edward O. Hawkins and Thomas C. Slater Medical Marijuana Act that went into effect last month over the veto of Gov. Donald L. Carcieri. And so far, there is interest in growing the plant well beyond what is mandated in state law.
Stephen Hogan, executive director of RIPAC, said there have been approximately 40 parties thus far who have expressed interest to RIPAC in applying for a compassion center license, despite the fact that the law allows for three compassion centers to be licensed within two years, one next year and then two in 2011. “Those are only the people who have approached us. There might be more,” Hogan said.
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Although the R.I. Department of Health holds license distribution power, many individuals have sought help from RIPAC due to the organization’s position as a leader in advocating medical marijuana legalization. “We have gotten calls from established nonprofit organizations, as well as up and coming nonprofits, and some individuals who would like to grow medical marijuana under a nonprofit designation,” Hogan said. Applications for the 2010 license are expected to be available in the fall.
This forum is one of a series of informational meetings that RIPAC has held for several months directed to patients and other interested parties. The meeting will be held at Brown University’s Foxboro Auditorium at 6 p.m. and will allow potential applicants to “become informed of the needs and requests of Rhode Island medical marijuana patients in regards to the expectations of what the compassion center will be able to provide for them,” according to the RIPAC Web site.
Admission to the forum is $50 per person, and it is open to the public.
For more information about the Rhode Island Patient Advocacy Coalition, go to ripatients.org.
