Heather Curtis
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON (WMAL) – It’s been a long-time coming, but in the next few days medical marijuana dispensaries will be opening up around Maryland.
“We are very excited to be able to provide patients with quality medicine,” said co-owner of RISE Silver Spring Andy Grossman.
Grossman expects to be able to open for business in the next few days but said he can’t give an exact date due to factors beyond their control.
Another dispensary Potomac Holistics in Rockville said on Facebook Tuesday it is scheduled to open Friday afternoon. WMAL did not hear back from inquiries made to the dispensary Thursday.
Of the 14 licensed growers in Maryland, Grossman said only one is ready to sell its product.
Before medical marijuana can be sold the grower needs to test it, label it and distribute it to the dispensaries. Once the medical marijuana is distributed to the dispensaries, they need to enter it into the state-mandated software system.
Grossman said they have spent a lot of time, money and energy getting the dispensary read. A ribbon-cutting was held Tuesday for the Silver Spring dispensary. RISE also has dispensaries in Illinois, Massachusetts, Nevada and Pennsylvania.
To make sure patients are safe, Grossman said they have many security cameras, and keycards will be required for entry. Only registered patients will be able to go inside the dispensary.
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