LYNN — Cannabis dispensary Olde World Remedies is facing scrutiny from City Council regarding its original representation as a medical marijuana facility.
Lynn currently has eight cannabis dispensaries, and two are supposed to be classified as medical marijuana facilities. Olde World Remedies and Apothca fall under this category. However, Councilor-At-Large Brian LaPierre said Olde World Remedies is not “keeping up their end of the bargain” when it comes to its intended medical marijuana status.
LaPierre suggested that the Council sends a letter to Olde World Remedies about reestablishing themselves as a medical cannabis facility. Assistant City Solicitor James Lamanna said it would be “perfectly appropriate” for the City Council to speak to Olde World Remedies about its current representation.
“There’s absolutely merit to looking into Olde World Remedies,” Lamanna said at the Sept. 23 City Council meeting. “The order of votes by the citizens: They legalized medical first, and then they legalized recreational use. The Council decided that two dispensaries were appropriate for medical use, and Old World Remedies took advantage of that.”
He added, “They got approval based on the representation that they were going to be a medical facility. They are not in compliance, and they did get an advantage by getting one of those first two licenses by making that representation to the council.”
Lamanna continued, “There’s certainly a benefit of medical marijuana. It’s not taxed at the same rate as recreational to try to keep the costs down for people that have legitimate prescriptions that require medical cannabis.”
LaPierre emphasized another important element of having more than one medical cannabis dispensary in Lynn.
“It’s also about the accessibility and variety of products,” LaPierre said. “You want to have competition within the medical cannabis field. Something Apothca carries may be different from what Olde World Remedies would carry. Some variety in choices for people that need it for medical purposes.”
City Council unanimously voted in favor of a motion to approve the Law Department to draft a notice to Olde World Dispensary to “characterize the reasons why they’re not providing medical marijuana, and when they can continue to do that, as set forth by their application years ago.”
The Cannabis Recreational subcommittee will be meeting on Oct. 14, and Olde World Remedies is expected to answer questions regarding its compliance with its original medical marijuana approval.
