MERRIMACK – Town officials unanimously granted initial approval to new guidelines for a medical marijuana dispensary and cultivation center in Merrimack after a licensed company expressed interest in opening a facility in town.

"Prime Alternative Treatments is interested in locating a dispensary here in Merrimack. If we do nothing, the alternative treatment centers would be treated the same as a retail pharmacy," said Tim Thompson, director of community development, to the Merrimack Planning Board Tuesday evening. "(The amendments) give the town a little bit of extra scrutiny to these applications."

Zoning rules approved Tuesday require dispensaries to be 1,000 feet away from schools and to have floor-plans and security measures reviewed by Merrimack police.

The Merrimack Town Council will review the proposed zoning changes Thursday and hold a third hearing in September before taking a final vote.

The 2013 law that legalized medical marijuana split the state into four areas, each of which can have one dispensary and one cultivation center. In June, the state Department of Health and Human Services granted licenses to three companies, allowing them to explore sites in their assigned regions.

Prime Alternative Treatment Centers will cover Hillsborough and Merrimack counties; Temescal Wellness, Inc. has the southeast and southwest regions and Sanctuary ATC will cover the North Country.

The amendments were drafted by town council and reviewed by legal counsel, and include definitions for alternative treatment and cultivation centers as well as criteria for conditional use permitting.

"Although we don’t expect a cultivation center to be located in Merrimack, we wanted the ordinances to cover the breadth of what could be located here under state law," said Thompson.

Previously proposed signage requirements were eliminated and rewritten at the suggestion of legal counsel.

"What we have now done is provide a reference to the New Hampshire Health and Human Services advertising restrictions," he said, adding it leaves it up to the state requirements.

For zoning purposes, an alternative treatment center must stay outside of designated school zones; keeping centers a minimum of 1,000 feet away from schools.

Treatment centers must also be located in a permanent structure, and cannot have drive-through services.

Medical marijuana by-products and remnants must be properly disposed of and the center’s floor plans and security strategies have to be submitted to Merrimack police for review.

Lastly, cannabis cannot be consumed on the property, and odor from the marijuana cannot be detected outside the building.

Planning board member Nelson Disco asked whether other types of products aside from cannabis will be sold, and Thompson said treatment centers should only sell medical cannabis and directly related paraphernalia; no other pharmaceuticals.

A handful of residents and town officials attended the meeting, although no one offered public comment.

Since the planning board accepted the proposed amendments, the Town Council will accept public testimony again on Thursday at 7 p.m. A third reading of the ordinances will be held Sept. 10, followed by a final vote.

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, dispensaries are not expected to open for another eight months. Patients will need an identification card to access medical marijuana, which will be issued about six weeks prior to the anticipated opening of dispensaries.

For more information, see the DHHS site, www.dhhs.state.nh.us/oos/tcp.

Tina Forbes can be reached at 594-6402, tforbes@nashuatelegraph. com or @Telegraph_TinaF.