Medbox CEO Praises Marijuana Draft Regulations
Attorneys, consultants, investors and other members of the Bay State's burgeoning medical marijuana industry got their first glimpse Friday of what the state regulations might look like.
And the verdict was largely positive, though plenty of uncertainty still exists.
Dr. Bruce Bedrick, CEO of Medbox Inc., a company that makes biometric medication dispensing machines and has an office in Natick, described the draft rules released by the Department of Public Health (DPH) as "a new gold standard" in the country.
Horses In The Race
Bedrick said he wasn't looking for anything in particular when he first perused the regulations Friday.
"I was taking an overall approach," Bedrick said.
But two rules in particular likely piqued his enthusiasm. For one, the draft regulations call for a "seed-to-sale" tracking system, which, as it sounds, is a way to track batches of the drug from the plant to its sale at treatment centers.
Though the draft did not contain specifics on how the system would work, it said treatment centers would be required to tag and track all seeds, plants and products contains marijuana.
Why seed-to-sale matters for Medbox is the company recently acquired an equity stake in Bio-Tech Medical Software Inc., a Florida-based company that makes prescription tracking software.
Medbox also announced March 25 it would acquire Vaporfection, a vaporizer manufacturer. Vaporizers are billed as healthier way to consume the drug because they use lower temperatures to vaporize mostly active ingredient, rather than ignite the plant matter.
That could be an important move for Medbox because the state has indicated it may require dispensaries to require medical marijuana treatment centers to sell vaporizers.
"That totally came out of left field," Bedrick said. "They want it done in a healthy way."
So what about Medbox's flagship product, the high-tech, secure dispensing machine?
Bedrick said he is still hopeful the devices will end up in a number of the up to 35 treatment centers Bay State voters have authorized.
"My goal is to have it end up in every single one, but it's not realistic," he said.
Advising Applicants
Even if he doesn't land a single center as a customer, Bedrick's company also offers consulting to would-be treatment center owners.
The draft regulations provide initial answers to many questions: Applicants will be required to have at least $500,000 in escrow, past experience running a treatment center will be taken into account (meaning out-of-state applicants may have an edge), and no investor can back more than three centers. There are also strict requirements on growing, advertising and labeling.
But there are still plenty of questions. For one, Bedrick noted, the draft states that a license applicant would have to be ready to open within 120 days of notice from DPH that it qualifies for registration.
Bedrick said that could be an important rule, but added that it's not entirely clear what it means.
"What happens if a town has a conditional permit process that takes six months?" he asked. "It's not clarified."
The DPH will accept public comments on the draft – both written and in person at three hearings in Northampton, Boston and Plymouth – until April 20.
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