Sussex’s third medical weed dispensary could open in September

A medical marijuana dispensary expected to open in Georgetown in late 2021 is now expected to be open in the late third quarter of 2022.

The anticipated opening of the Georgetown location is now mid-September, said Division of Public Health spokesman Tim Turane.

The Office of Medical Marijuana, a division under the DPH, spoke with CannTech, and they explained they continue to face challenges due to supply chain issues, said Turane. For example, he said, they just received point-of-sale computers, while other pieces of equipment are pending.

In February 2021, the state announced it had awarded licenses to three vendors – Valor Craft Cannabis Company, CannTech and EzyCure. At the time, CannTech was expected to open its Sussex County dispensary by the end of 2021.

Citing state code, Turane declined to provide contact information for CannTech. However, he did say the company was planning to open the facility in the Georgetown Plaza shopping center, which is located within the corporate limits of Georgetown and sits on the corner of Route 9 and Route 113. Specifically, under the name Best Buds, the dispensary is supposed to be in 23 Georgetown Plaza, next to the shopping center’s Dollar General. A building permit issued by the town is displayed in the window of the retail space. It calls for a tenant fit-out.

When it does open, Best Buds will be the third dispensary in Sussex; the other two are First State outside Lewes and Columbia Care outside Rehoboth. First State also has a dispensary in Wilmington, while Columbia Care has one in Smyrna and another in Wilmington. Fresh Cannabis has a location in Newark, while The Farm is in Felton.

The continued delays for the new dispensary come as the number of medical marijuana patients continues to increase.

When the law creating the medical marijuana program was passed in 2011, analysts expected the patient population to top out around 5,000 patients. When the state awarded this round of contracts 18 months ago, the patient population was about 11,500.

Now, according to data from the state, as of July 18, there are 15,505 medical marijuana patients in Delaware – 7,888 in New Castle County; 2,813 in Kent County; 4,804 in Sussex County.