Fall River marijuana dispensary Hope Heal Health being sold

FALL RIVER — The chief executive officer of one of the city’s medical marijuana dispensaries confirmed Friday that the business is being sold and said customers should expect things will stay “business as usual.”

Hope Heal Health CEO John Rogue told The Herald News that the dispensary, which opened for medical sales in February, will likely be under new ownership soon. He declined to say who the potential buyer might be.

“It’s in process. It has not taken place,” Rogue said of the sale. “We have been in merger talks.”

Rogue’s admission comes just a few days after the dispensary CannaTech Medicinals, also known as Health For Life, was sold to the New York-based cannabis giant iAnthus Capital Holdings, which already has dispensaries operational in major cities such as Boston and New York City.

Though locally managed, Hope Heal Health is owned by Cresco Labs of Chicago. The dispensary and Cresco entered into a definitive merger agreement in 2018. The company was granted a provisional license from the state’s Cannabis Control Commission in April, meaning it will soon be able to commence recreational marijuana sales. The dispensary’s application is under review by the CCC.

Apart from Hope Heal Health, two other dispensaries are open in Fall River. Eight other marijuana-related businesses spanning sales, cultivation and processing also have applications in with state officials to set up shop in Fall River. The number of applicants has caused the City Council to take up the issue of setting some kind of cap on the number allowed in Fall River.

Though most have ties to larger companies outside Fall River, Hope Heal Health’s possible sale marks another example of smaller dispensaries being bought up by growing corporations that own cannabis businesses across the country.

Hope Heal Health operates a dispensary and marijuana cultivation facility out of a renovated former mill on Weaver Street. At the time of the dispensary’s soft opening earlier this year, Rogue said that Hope Heal Health took up two floors of the building and that it would likely expand over time.