Patients, Politicians Hash Out Plans for NK Compassion Center

The air was hot with passion from advocates and adversaries with the agenda focused on the 18 proposed marijuana compassion centers inside the aging, basement-level auditorium at the state Department of Health headquarters on Monday morning.

It was standing room only as more than 100 people turned out to rally in support or opposition for the public hearing on the not-for-profit dispensary and cultivation sites that will supply Rhode Island’s 3,100 medical marijuana patients with cannabis by prescription. Up to three centers will ultimately gain DOH approval by March 8.

Rep. Doreen Marie Costa (R-31) was ready to defend her constituents’ “backyard.” She said more than 700 e-mails flooded her inbox after news broke of a proposed NK compassion center.

“I first heard about this when it was on the front pages of the local papers,” Costa said, addressing the crowd. After reading e-mails from concerned North Kingstown residents worried that a compassion center in NK would hurt the community, and speaking with another 200 locals at town meetings over the past few weeks, Costa said she found only one person in support of the dispensary. Subsequently, Costa said she cannot support a compassion center that her voters so overwhelmingly oppose.

“Neither North Kingstown or Rhode Island is ready for compassion centers and we’re especially not in my district,” she said.

Others believe that compassion centers are long overdue in Rhode Island.

“The laws have been put in place so they will open compassion centers in Rhode Island,” said Lee Golini on Tuesday. He is awaiting a verdict on his proposed Post Road apothecary, Chronic Pain Management Center of Rhode Island. It would be located at 6851 Post Road, the site of a former People’s Credit Union.

“It’s just a matter of who it will be and whether it will be professional or not. I think we can do it professionally,” he said.

The building, outfitted with two safes and outer-lying offices, offers an ideal location for a dispensary. According to Golini, the building is secure and equipped with ample space for private counseling rooms and classrooms for educating patients on proper medicinal uses of marijuana.

Golini, 31, holds a juris doctor and master’s degree in business administration from Washington University. He is a Rhode Island native and, although he is not a patient and does not smoke marijuana, he was motivated to apply to open a center after last year’s application process went up in smoke.

A strict 25-page limit on applications left candidates inadequate space to fulfill claim requirements and all 15 were rejected in September. In round two, Golini was prompted to apply because he wanted to provide a patient-centered facility. His 187-page application outlines several unique services that would help patients pay for and understand their medication. Free shuttle rides will help transport patients with a demonstrated need and a 4,200-square-foot cultivation site in Cranston will ensure a consistent, affordable supply. Check out the centers Facebook page for more information on specific services.

“Anything I can do to help people and reduce the price [of medicinal marijuana],” he said. “It is a weed just like any other weed you would want to kill. You can produce a large amount of it at a relatively low cost and you don’t need to sell it for a large amount of money.”

Jerome Scott of Jamestown suffers from severe arthritis. Both of his hips have been replaced and he suffers from chronic joint pain. After years of medicating with Celebrex, an arthritis medication that can damage the stomach, Scott found the only thing that offered him any pain relief was marijuana.

“I’m on a limited income and the cost of the product is expensive,” he said at the DOH meeting. “The only [applicant] I’ve seen that has made a distinction in that regard is Chronic Pain Management Center. They said they will deliver an ounce for $280. For me, the lowest I’ve seen is $450.”

Harlan Benetti of Quidnesset, whose body was ravaged while serving his country in the Army, has been a medical marijuana patient for three years. For nearly 40 years before the herb was legalized for medicinal use, Benetti would trade the barbiturates prescribed by doctors for his pain for marijuana instead.

“There are drawbacks and one is the quality,” he said, admitting that his emphysema was affected by poor-quality product. “It’s difficult to get a good quality crop and when you smoke the cheap stuff it affects your breathing.”

Both Benetti and Scott support CPMC of Rhode Island because it promises to serve patients with low cost, high quality product.

“Whether or not it’s me, affordable and available medicine is, I think, something that patients deserve in this state,” said Golini.