SOUTH DEERFIELD — People with medical marijuana prescriptions may soon be able to fill them in South Deerfield.
The Select Board has signed a host agreement allowing a medical marijuana cultivation and sales business, New England Patient Network, to grow and sell marijuana at 10 Greenfield Road for three years, pending a state certification.
“We understand that because we’re the first ones here, the bar is set high,” Nick Spagnola, chief operating officer in the organization, told the Select Board last week.
The proposed facility would be at the space most recently occupied by Atlantic Furniture, across from the Red Roof Inn. It could open next year.
“We’ll go above and beyond to meet the standard,” Spagnola continued, adding that the business and the town have been in communication for about three years.
During the meeting, Select Board member Carolyn Shores Ness said the town is getting a good deal.
“It will never be anything other than revenue neutral plus,” she said. “It’s a good thing for us.”
The agreement allows the town to take no less than 2 percent of the dispensary’s gross profit during the three-year agreement.
Deerfield Police Chief John Paciorek Jr. said that instead of shunning the dispensary and forcing it to go elsewhere, but still dealing with the effects of a marijuana retailer in a neighboring town, the town worked hard to bring the dispensary into Deerfield to control security, make money and better keep the public safe.
“We took the opposite (approach) to what most towns do,” Paciorek said. “Over the last three years we’ve really tried to home in on every security detail.”
He added that security measures at the dispensary are dictated by both the town and the state, and will include measures such as doors with fingerprint access, security cameras and a tracking system for marijuana seedlings and products.
If the dispensary opens, Spagnola said it would offer several types of medical marijuana strains, used in various products such as patches, topical products and creams.
As of now, the dispensary is waiting on a state license to grow and sell marijuana, which Spagnola said he expects will be approved by the end of the year.
If approved, seedlings would be planted soon after, and the doors opened for retail early next year.