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Marijuana grower drops suit against Pa. Health Dept.

BrightStar, based in Scranton, had demanded that the state revoke a permit awarded to a rival whose parent company was under criminal investigation.

A young marijuana plant growing at an organic indoor commercial growing operation in Oregon.
A young marijuana plant growing at an organic indoor commercial growing operation in Oregon.Read moreDavid Deardorff via AP
    by Sam Wood
    Published 

An aspiring medical marijuana grower dropped its lawsuit Wednesday against the Pennsylvania Department of Health, according to court documents.

The company, BrightStar Biomedics LLC, did not win one of the 12 permits awarded by the state in June to grow cannabis. BrightStar sued last month, demanding that the state program revoke a permit awarded to a rival, Pennsylvania Medical Solutions, because PMS's parent company was under criminal investigation in Minnesota.

Former executives at PMS's parent, Vireo Health, allegedly smuggled $500,000 worth of hash oil in an armored car from Minnesota to New York. BrightStar, based in Scranton, had claimed that PMS failed to disclose the criminal probe on its application, which might have led to its immediate disqualification or led to a lower score.

BrightStar lost the permit to PMS by three points out of a possible total of 1,000. It has appealed to the health department to learn why its application was not successful. On Tuesday, PMS held a job fair in Scranton in conjunction with the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce and United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 1776, according to Vireo's website.

Dan Fee, a spokesman for BrightStar, could not say why the company dropped the suit. In a statement, he said that after "discussions with counsel at the Department of Health, BrightStar decided to voluntarily withdraw its suit without prejudice and continue with the administrative-appeal process provided under the Act. BrightStar continues to believe strongly in the merits of its position and looks forward to getting to the truth of what happened here."