Portland’s First Medical Marijuana Dispensary Quietly Opens

PORTLAND, ME — With little fanfare or publicity, the Wellness Connection of Maine quietly opened their doors for business on Wednesday, giving the city of Portland their first medical marijuana dispensary. A handful of patients showed up for the dispensary’s opening, located in a nondescript brick building at the end of an alley.

Inside, the dispensary is a well-lit, modern facility with bright green walls, light wood floors, and a coffee bar that offers café style seating, Wi-Fi and additional rooms for other alternative healing and group education programs.

Executive Director Becky DeKeuster said the Portland location is the largest dispensary the group plans to operate in Maine, and will employ six to eight people. The 6,500-square-foot facility is one of four dispensaries opened or slated to open this year by Wellness Connection of Maine under the provisions of a 2009 state law allowing eight medical marijuana dispensaries to open statewide.

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“We are looking forward to getting to know our clients and our neighbors,” DeKeuster said. “We’ve created a warm, inviting space where supporting each patient’s total well-being is the main focus.”

DeKuster said the dispensary’s opening was low-key because decor work inside the building is still a work in progress.

Smokeable marijuana and marijuana tinctures will be among the dispensaries initial offerings, said DeKeuster. Edibles will not be immediately available because the facility doesn’t yet have a permit or equipment for a kitchen.

DeKeuster said the non-profit grows their marijuana for their dispensaries at an undisclosed location in Maine. Dispensaries are allowed to grow six plants per patient, although DeKeuster said production isn’t high enough yet to support dispensing those amounts.

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The group is currently working to ramp up supply, she said. To meet demand in the early going, patients may have their supply limited to below the state allowance, which allows patients to buy up to 2.5 ounces every 15 days.

Only qualified patients are allowed to enter the dispensary.