Branford Awarded Medical Marijuana Program

Branford and five other towns will launch the state’s medical marijuana program this summer, Consumer Protection Commissioner William M. Rubenstein announced yesterday.

Branford’s facility, which will include patients from New Haven, will be located at 469 East Main St., in a separate section of the building that houses the Planet Fitness gym. The facility has a separate entrance. It previously housed a beauty parlor and a massage therapy facility.

The six facilities will be able to serve patients by the time marijuana products are legally harvested this summer. 

A pharmacist will legally dispense Connecticut-produced marijuana products to seriously ill patients who have been certified by their physicians as potentially benefiting from the use of medical marijuana, and who have registered with the state’s Medical Marijuana Program. 

Those towns awarded the programs are located in four of Connecticut’s eight counties. The cities or towns selected are Hartford, Bristol, Uncasville, South Windsor, Bridgeport and Branford.

Pharmacist Nick Tamborrino (pictured above) of Fairfield presented his business plan for the facility last November at a public hearing conducted by the Planning and Zoning Commission. ( Click here to read that story.) His plan was later approved pending the outcome of the state’s decision. 

New Haven County Stats

Tamborrino told the commission that New Haven County has the largest number of patients certified for medical marijuana use, and the site has easy access from Interstate 95 via exit 55 or 56.

The state legislature approved the use of medical marijuana by a 117 – 64 vote in May 2012, and the governor signed it into law. The state approved regulations in August, which have been termed the most rigorous in the nation.

Commissioner Rubenstein said in a press release yesterday that like the four (marijuana) producers that were awarded licenses in January, the six facilities were chosen through a competitive process, from 27 applicants.

“Each applicant was required to provide detailed information, including the applicant’s qualifications and experience, a business plan identifying the products and services it will offer, security features, and plans to provide benefits to the local community,” he wrote. 

Rubenstein said the selection of the six facilities ​“is another milestone in the implementation of Connecticut General Statutes Chapter 420f, which provides for the palliative use of marijuana for patients suffering from one of 11 specific debilitating illnesses, whose doctors believe that such treatment is appropriate.”

He said Connecticut is the first state medical marijuana program based on the pharmaceutical/ medical model — from physician certification, to production facilities operating as pharmaceutical manufacturers, to dispensing to patients.

Tamborrino said patients would schedule monthly appointments to fill their prescriptions, and he anticipates about 14 patients a day would use the site. Only patients or their care-givers would be allowed in the facility, which would be open Mondays through Fridays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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