Medical Marijuana generic 2015

This June 2 photo shows medical marijuana plants at a medical marijuana garden in Israel. Seen is Cheryl Shuman at the Israel Medical Marijuana Gardens University of Jerusalem Research Department with Dr. Raphael Mechoulam. Massachusetts first medical marijuana dispensary opened in Salem last Wednesday.

(Associated Press)

Some Western Massachusetts companies are reapplying to open medical marijuana dispensaries under a revamped licensing process set up by Gov. Charlie Baker's administration.

"The process was good. The applications were very easy to understand. It's more transparent than it has been before," said Brian Lees, a former Republican state senator and Hampden County Clerk of Courts who was part of a group that was provisionally granted then denied a medical marijuana license under former governor Deval Patrick, a Democrat.

Monday was the first day in which companies could apply for a license to open a medical marijuana facility in Massachusetts under the new licensing rules. More than 50 applications were submitted, said Scott Zoback, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

The Department of Public Health has not yet released the names of the applicants. Zoback said that information will gradually get posted on the department's website. The applicants also do not have to reveal yet where they want to site a dispensary. That will come later on in the application process.

Lees would not say where his group, Debilitating Medical Condition Treatment Centers, wants to open a dispensary. Previously, the group, led by Heriberto Flores, planned to open a dispensary in Holyoke. Now, Lees said, "All options are open, as they are with everybody."

Under Patrick, Debilitating Medical Condition Treatment Centers received provisional approval. But it was pulled after the state auditor issued an audit that was critical of Flores for the salary he took as president of the New England Farm Workers Council.

Since then, the council has settled the audit by submitting a corrective action plan, along with revised annual financial reports.

Flores is now chairman of the board of the medical marijuana group, and Lees will be the chief operating officer. Lees said the group is prepared to go through the process again.

Nick Spagnola is part of a group led by Boston area attorney Julius Sokol that has submitted three dispensary applications, including one in Deerfield and two outside of Boston.

"I'm hopeful that this process will truly be market based," Spagnola said.

Spagnola's group, formerly called JM Farm's Patient Group, sued the state after the Patrick administration denied it a license to operate in Deerfield. The license was denied because of something that turned up in a background check, but JM Farm's argued that it got rid of the person in question and was still denied a license unfairly. A judge found in favor of the state. The group has since changed its name to New England Patient Network.

If approved, the Deerfield dispensary could be the second in Franklin County. A Greenfield dispensary that will be run by Patriot Care Corporation has already gotten preliminary state approval.

Spagnola argued that competition would be a good thing. "Another dispensary is going to make dispensary operators honest," Spagnola said. "We will have to provide higher quality medicine and have to have attractive prices. Some competition is great for the market and, more importantly, it's great for patients, so they have an option."

Massachusetts voters passed a ballot question allowing medical marijuana in 2012. Patrick set up a process in which companies submitted applications in one batch, and they were then scored and compared against one another. The process was marred by problems. Companies that received provisional licenses were found to have problems, such as overstated levels of local support or problems running dispensaries in other states. Several lawsuits resulted. By the time Baker took office in January, no dispensary had opened yet.

Baker announced in April that he was overhauling the process to make it more in line with a traditional licensing process. Companies can apply for licenses on a rolling basis, and each application will be looked at independently. The administration also released clearer standards regarding things like background checks.

The state's first medical marijuana dispensary opened last week in Salem. Fifteen companies that received provisional approval under the Patrick administration are in various stages of the approval process.

This story has been corrected to note that JM Farm's has changed its name.