Ex-Congressman Sues Massachusetts Over Medical Marijuana Rejection

A former Massachusetts congressman whose bid to open three medical marijuana dispensaries was rejected by state regulators has filed a lawsuit.

Former U.S. Rep. William Delahunt is asking a court to force the state Public Health Department to give him licenses to run dispensaries in Dennis, Masphee and Taunton.

The Boston Globe reports that in a lawsuit filed this week in Suffolk Superior Court, Delahunt's company, Medical Marijuana of Massachusetts, said regulators broke their own rules and reacted unreasonably to negative publicity when they reversed themselves and rejected the company's bid to run dispensaries after initially granting approval in January.

Delahunt's lawsuit is among at least a half-dozen suits filed by rejected applicants.

State regulators notified Delahunt's company in June that it was denied licenses because it planned to divert excessive revenues to a management company associated with Delahunt, and made incorrect representations on its application that suggested it had support from state Senate President Therese Murray.

Delahunt's company says the reversal was arbitrary and capricious because it was based on publicity considerations rather than the merits of the company's applications.

A health department spokeswoman defended the selection process, and noted that some of the other legal challenges to the process have been rejected in the courts.

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