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The Massachusetts Public Health Department Wednesday was sued by a failed applicant for a medical marijuana storefront, accusing the state agency of using political favoritism over merit to grant provisional licenses.Watch the report"These people applied, spent $31,500 on the basis they would be given a level playing field, that they would be judged against their peers," said Bob Carp, attorney for 1Releaf Inc. "Unfortunately, that is not what happened."Carp pointed to the success of former Rep. William Delahunt's company, Medical Marijuana of Massachusetts, in receiving three provisional licenses based on applications that he said were filled with questionable, perhaps, illegal proposals.Carp said for example, the department's regulation stipulate the plants must be grown organically and hydroponic plants are not recognized by the USDA as organic. "They (Medical Marijuana of Massachusetts) mention they are going to grow this hydroponically," said Carp, "completely against the rules. Yet the state awarded them full points for it." In fact, out of a perfect score of 163, all three of Delahunt's companies received 160 points. The other successful 19 applicants were eight to 23 points behind him. The scoring is based on factors like corporate background, suitability, financial conditions and location and structure. But Department of Public Health spokesman David Kibbe could not provide the factors that deem one location better than another. "Because of some people's political connections, they managed to make it right up to the top, get significant letters of support without any kind of difficulty," said Carp. "I don't think my client had the requisite contacts at the DPH, the requisite contacts in the political arena."Carp also criticized the financial system described in Delahunt's applications. Delahunt would receive a $250,000 annual salary and half of the nonprofit's revenues would be turned over to a separate management company, Triple M Management Co, composed of Delahunt and his partners.Delahunt was not available for an interview since he is in South America this week, but one of his partners, Jonathan Herlihy defended their application saying no one would collect a salary for two years and the revenues going to the management company would be used to pay off loans.But Herlihy conceded once the loans were repaid, the annual revenues would become profit for their investors and managers. Herlihy also said Delahunt's role as a manager in the company ended on Jan. 10, 2014, but conceded they have not yet notified the Secretary of State's Corporation's division of the change. Delahunt, however, remains a key investor.He also denied Delahunt's political connections landed them the three provisional licenses."Without Delahunt's name, we would have had 158 points instead of 160 points," said Herlihy. A court hearing in Suffolk Superior Court requesting a preliminary injunction to halt the entire application process is scheduled for next Wednesday.Carp also called on Public Health Commissioner Cheryl Bartlett to recuse herself from the entire licensing process since she held fundraisers for Delahunt in the past. Bartlett has said she withdrew from the decision-making process 10 days before the provisional licenses were announced.Kibbe also said the application process is far from over."No one has a license - provisional or otherwise - to operate a dispensary in Massachusetts. We are in the middle of an intensive verification process with the 20 applicants who have moved into this next phase, and we have been clear that anyone found to have lied or misrepresented information in their application will not get a license. This lawsuit is frivolous and we seek to get it dismissed quickly," said a statement released by the Department of Public Health.Medical Marijuana of Massachusetts is scheduled to go before the licensing board for a face-to-face interview in two weeks. Carp's suit also alleged that other successful applicants were not qualified because of illegal sublets in their proposals, lying about support from local officials they never met and that two applicants are now under investigation by the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission.