Vermont’s first retail cannabis store opened up just over two years ago, and since then, the number of people using the state medical cannabis registry dropped by about one-third.
And with fewer people using the medical registry, the state’s medical dispensaries have been closing. Two of the state’s six medical dispensaries, in Middlebury and Bennington, have closed since October 2022, when adult-use retail stores began opening up.
In an effort to continue serving people who use cannabis for medical purposes, the state sometime next year will allow regular retail stores to apply for a special license to sell medical cannabis, which has a higher potency.
Cannabis Control Board Chair James Pepper says the state is trying to get ready for the change, because more medical patients are going to be walking into retail stores to ask for medical advice.
“You got all these dispensaries closing, so you’ve got all these patients now using recreational stores instead of medical dispensaries,” Pepper said. “There’s this serious concern about what budtenders are saying to patients who are walking in and saying, ‘Hey, I’m on a statin, I’m on these sleep meds, I take aspirin every day, and should I try this vape or that gummy over there?’”
If a store wants to sell medical cannabis, there will be some special requirements, including separating the medicinal and regular adult-use product, protecting patient privacy and starting an educational training program for employees.
“Our job at the cannabis board is to find some sort of evidence-based, peer-reviewed training procedure so that budtenders aren’t in the position of giving medical advice,” Pepper said.
Our job at the Cannabis Board is to find some sort of evidence-based, peer-reviewed training procedure so that budtenders aren’t in the position of giving medical advice.James Pepper, Cannabis Control Board
The mandatory training will include lessons on the physiological effects of cannabinoids, appropriate dosing protocols, and learning the risks and common side effects of cannabis.
The board wants to contract with an online service called Cannify that would allow customers to get the medical advice after filling in a questionnaire at a computer in the store.
But Jessa Barnard, Vermont Medical Society's executive director, says the online information system could be potentially harmful to patients.
“We certainly support the idea of making sure everybody who is working with Vermonters who are involved with the medical program have evidence-based information,” she said. “But when it turns into recommending certain branded products, we have concerns.”
Because of how cannabis is sold and branded, any recommendation on which product to try will direct patients towards certain brands, and Barnard says that’s a problem.
She says the Cannify app could have an influence on what products patients are trying.
“Until we actually have federal, FDA regulations with indications and evidence about which strains or potencies treat certain conditions, I think we are stuck in this middle ground area,” Barnard said. “There are some FDA-approved THC, products so we know the dosage and we know how to take it. But when you have unregulated products, it’s an inequal marriage of the information patients want and what is really out there.”
Have questions, comments, or tips? Send us a message.
_
