Alternative Therapies Group Appears to Win City’s Backing for Marijuana Dispensary

Alternative Therapies Group appears ready to seal the deal after a months-long courtship with the city.

Haverhill Mayor James J. Fiorentini will ask councilors Tuesday for permission to sign a letter of non-opposition to the company’s request to build a medical marijuana dispensary.

Click image for Haverhill City Council agenda.

The City Council meets at 7 p.m. in the Theodore A. Pelosi Jr. City Council Chambers on the second floor of Haverhill City Hall. The meeting is open to the public.

As part of the rules established by the state when it approved the sale of medical marijuana, dispensaries must be able to present a letter of non-opposition from the community in which they wish to operate in order to receive their state license.

Alternative Therapies Group was one of two firms that approached the city in the fall of 2017 with proposals. The other is Sanctuary Medicinals.

ATG was the first in Massachusetts to set up a dispensary, located in Salem. It also has a cultivation operation in Amesbury.

In a presentation to the City Council on Sept. 19, Executive Director Christopher Edwards said ATG would make charitable contributions to community organizations and set up a revenue-sharing schedule in the host city agreement that the two sides would sign.

Edwards said ATG has located a suitable parcel in the city’s Medical Marijuana Overlay District, which sits between Computer and Research drives, off Broadway. The lot would accommodate a 6,000-sqare-foot building as well as ample parking, he said.

Sanctuary Medicinals, on the other hand, told councilors the company was unable to find a spot in the approved district, and asked instead to be allowed to locate on Shelley Road in the Ward Hill Industrial Park.

If the city and Alternative Therapies Group are able to come to an agreement, Sanctuary Medicinals will not be able to open a dispensary in the city. The state rules governing the medical marijuana industry limit the number of locations in a community to one.