Rhode Island issues five new medical marijuana dispensary licenses

Rhode Island officials on Friday awarded five new medical marijuana dispensary licenses to business owners through a lottery.

The licenses were issued under a long-awaited MMJ program expansion plan that will eventually increase the number of dispensaries from three to nine.

According to Cranston TV station WJAR, the Office of Cannabis Regulation awarded one business permit for each of five different geographic regions in the state. There were 23 applicants.

The winners:

• RMI Compassion Centers in Zone 1, which includes Burrillville, Cumberland, Glocester, North Smithfield, Smithfield and Woonsocket.
• Pinnacle Compassion Center in Zone 2 (Central Falls, Johnston, Lincoln, North Providence and Providence).
• Green Wave in Zone 3 (Coventry, Foster, Scituate, West Greenwich and West Warwick).
• Solar Therapeutics Rhode Island in Zone 4 (Cranston, East Greenwich, North Kingstown and Warwick).
• Plant Based Compassionate Care in Zone 5 (Charlestown, Exeter, Hopkinton, Narragansett, Richmond, South Kingstown and Westerly).

A sixth dispensary license will also be awarded, but that has been put on hold because of an ongoing legal appeal, WJAR reported.

The five new license winners will be able to complete the licensing process sometime next week, but it’s unclear when they might be able to open for business.