Heriberto Flores 2012

Heriberto "Herbie" Flores, president of the New England Farm Workers Council, overlooks the Hampden Street properties he owns from his third floor office in downtown Springfield. Flores recently established a new non-profit corporation called theDebilitating Medical Condition Treatment Centers Inc. with the hopes of establishing a medical marijuana facility in 11-13 Hampden St. (2012 republican file photo by John Suchocki)

SPRINGFIELD- As the Thursday deadline approaches for applying to open medical marijuana dispensaries across the state, Heriberto Flores, businessman and president of the New England Farm Workers Council, is among those drafting a proposal.

Flores and a group of partners, including former state Sen. and Hampden Superior Court clerk Brian P. Lees, took the first step in May to propose opening a medical marijuana distribution facility. Business incorporation paperwork filed with the state lists Flores as president of the Debilitating Medical Condition Treatment Centers Inc.

And although a dispensary may not end up being located in the 11-13 Hampden St. building he owns, approval of a license by the state would grant the new company the right to provide prescribed patients with the plant somewhere within Hampden County, according to Flores.

"Medical marijuana passed in November with 63 percent of the voters approving it. You don't have politicians winning elections by that big of a number," Flores told The Republican and MassLive.com. "This is a good business decision, and, at the same time, it will help people who need it."

Flores said he learned firsthand while caring for someone with cancer the benefits of medical marijuana.

"When you are helping someone like that, you see that there aren't pharmaceutical drugs that help with things like not wanting to eat. And more and more people are starting to learn about marijuana's benefits," Flores said, referencing a recent about-face by CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta who acknowledged the potential medical benefits of marijuana after initially decrying the plant's medicinal use.

Corporate paperwork filed with the secretary of state's office lists Flores' new business entity as "Debilitating Medical Condition Treatment Centers Inc." and his partners, along with Lees, include Mary Frey, of Longmeadow, the wife of former Hampden district attorney William M. Bennett, and Samuel Mazza, a South Hadley surgeon. Bennett served as attorney to handle the corporate filing, according to the documents filed with the state.

Flores' filing of the application ahead of the Aug. 22 deadline doesn't guarantee he will be approved by the state to open such a facility. In the first phase of the process, an applicant's financial integrity is investigated and authorities look at whether anyone involved in the business venture has a felony conviction.

If things check out, an in-depth investigation into the applicants commences with the licenses eventually being granted on a competitive basis. The state regulations allow for up to 35 non-profit dispensaries to open across the commonwealth, with each county hosting at least one, but no more than five facilities.

For Flores, who is the owner of several buildings and businesses in the downtown and also the chairman of Partners for Community and head of the farm workers council, a medical marijuana dispensary offers another a new opportunity.

"Even though it is a special kind of non-profit company you have to create, you aren't tax-exempt and they are going to make money," Flores said. "They are going to make money that can be invested into other ventures. They are going to create new jobs. This is completely separate from the farm workers council, but our experience there shows we know how to run a non-profit company."

Mayor Domenic Sarno has asked for a moratorium on the city approving medical marijuana facilities until issues with zoning and code enforcement are worked out. Other area communities have sought similar moratoriums.

“In meeting with city solicitor Ed Pikula, health commissioner Helen Caulton-Harris, police commissioner William Fitchet, and deputy director of planning Phil Dromey, I have asked for a review as to how this law will locally affect us as it pertains to zoning, public health and public safety issues,” Sarno said in late July. “We need to ensure that the city of Springfield is ready to implement the law locally and will have appropriate local oversight protections in place for the protection of the residents of the city."

Sarno, who said on Monday that he didn't have anything new to add on the topic, is one of four Western Massachusetts officials calling for moratoriums as municipalities across the commonwealth work to adapt to the new law. Palmer, Agawam and West Springfield officials have also opted to apply the brakes to the local approval process while Chicopee adopted regulations limiting where a medical marijuana dispensary could open.

Caulton-Harris, who sat on the state panel which passed the medical marijuana regulations, said it is best for each municipality to educate themselves and figure out a plan that works for them.

"Locally, our charge is to take the regulations and strengthen them to make sure they are appropriate for the city," she said. "There are zoning issues regarding schools, churches and a hardship clause that says some people can grow marijuana if they can't afford it. We need to look at and plan for every possible scenario and that is behind the steps the mayor has taken."

Caulton-Harris said that in September, the city's Public Health Council will reconvene and look at some of the issues it must tackle relating to medical marijuana cultivation, distribution and use in Springfield. The Springfield Planning Board is also expected to look at the medical marijuana zoning issues in September.