Vermont only has five medical cannabis dispensaries as opposed to at least 51 recreational businesses opening within the last two years.
By Brooke Burns
Medical cannabis dispensaries are closing, officials say, and leaving with them are access to products and services not available on the recreational market. A bill, passed out of the House in March, aims to remedy that.
James Pepper, chair of the Cannabis Control Board, told legislators in a Feb. 1 meeting that when medical cannabis dispensaries shut down, patients lose access to medical expertise, higher potency THC and cannabis delivery options. Such services aren’t available on the recreational market.
“The way that the system is set up now, dispensaries start to close because the economics don’t work,” Pepper said. “Those services and products, which are only available on the medical side, would really go away.”
Rep. Michael McCarthy, a St. Albans Democrat and chair of the House government operations committee, along with Rep. Matt Birong, D–Vergennes, introduced H.612 in January. It was introduced in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs on April 2.
Vermont only has five medical cannabis dispensaries as opposed to at least 51 recreational businesses opening within the last two years, according to Vermont Cannabis Information. In addition to the different offerings by medical dispensaries, their products are also free from the state’s 14% tax on cannabis sales.
To boost the medical side of the weed business, the bill would allow recreational dispensaries to apply for medical endorsements, which would let them offer medical services to patients that need them, like product delivery and higher potency cannabis. Patients that qualify would still be exempt from the usual 14% tax, even at the recreational dispensaries, according to the bill.
Other components of the bill came at the recommendation of the Cannabis Control Board’s annual report to the general assembly, published Jan. 15. The report suggested adding ulcerative colitis to the list of qualifying conditions for medical dispensary access, lowering the fees that all dispensaries — recreational and medical alike — are required to pay and removing caps that require recreational dispensaries to limit the potency of THC in their products. THC stands for tetrahydrocannabinol, the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis that causes people to feel high.
Lawmakers added ulcerative colitis to the list of qualifying conditions in the bill, and they added language that would cut fees dispensaries are required to pay significantly. An application fee for a one-time retail license to sell cannabis products for either type of dispensary would drop from $2,500 to $1,000. Current law also requires businesses to pay a $20,000 fee in their first year of operation. That fee would get slashed entirely, and a yearly renewal fee of $25,000 that businesses have to pay in subsequent years would fall to just $5,000.
Lawmakers did not, however, take the board’s advice to eliminate THC potency caps on all markets. Pepper acknowledged the situation may require a more delicate solution.
“I asked for that one section in 612 to say just lift the potency caps because that’s the kind of cleanest way to just say ‘patients will be held harmless,’” Pepper said. “They’ll get the same kind of products at least. But it’s also kind of taking a sledgehammer to a situation that probably requires a scalpel.”
Vermont enforces a potency cap of 60% THC on cannabis concentrates like oil and waxes, and 30% on flower, the smokable part of a cannabis plant. Lawmakers originally aimed to eliminate the cap altogether, but they rolled that back after weighing testimony from cannabis experts and researchers.
Legislators heard testimony from those in support of the cap elimination’s inclusion in the bill, like Joseph Toploski, lab manager at Satori, a cannabis wholesaler, cultivator, and manufacturer based in Middlebury. Toploski testified to the benefits of eliminating the THC cap on certain products.
“The removal of potency caps on cannabis concentrates offers a pathway to increased state revenue, market diversification, product authenticity and enhanced safety standards,” Toploski told legislators Feb. 1. “As Vermont looks to foster a robust and compliant cannabis industry, reconsidering these caps could be a pivotal step in achieving these goals and shutting down the black market, which I think we can all agree is a good thing.”
The committee’s decision to maintain the cap was in part due to objections from the medical community. Legislators read written testimony from the Vermont Medical Society that pointed out high potency THC products may not even benefit patients. In fact, they may do the opposite.
“Researchers like the Yale School of Medicine are questioning the therapeutic value of high potency products and publishing the increasing adverse effects and risks related to regular use of dabs and high THC concentrates,” the letter reads. “There is also increasing evidence that chronic pain is best managed with products with THC potency that is less than 10-15% THC.”
The letter said high potency THC use can cause psychosis, paranoia, suicidality, and uncontrollable vomiting.
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Categories: Health Care, Legislation, State Government
“There is also increasing evidence that chronic pain is best managed with products with THC potency that is less than 10-15% THC.” This is true and thanks to the Biden Administration we will soon no longer have to treat this medicine like Heroin and Crack as is due to be moved to a Schedule 3 drug which allows much needed research to be conducted.
There is still a need for high potency THC for cancer and chronic pain sufferers
Ah, yes, a hallucinatory drug that medical science has confirmed is addictive, and as per the CDC, can increase the risk of cancer in certain individuals (there is a causal link between testicular cancer & this drug specifically), its properties cause high blood pressure increasing the risk of heart attack & stroke, and the drug delivers the exact same harmful substances into the lungs, toxins & carcinogens, as do other inhaled products thereby damaging both the lungs & the cardiovascular system.
In addition, as per the CDC as well, the drug impacts imperative brain development in young users through their mid-twenties and impairs driving ability/machinery use in all users regardless of age in identical fashion as does alcohol.
Further, as per the famed Cleveland Clinic, this drug is also known to cause CHS, aka Cannabis Hyperemesis Syndrome which causes periods of nausea, severe abdominal pain, and violent episodes of vomiting. Interestingly enough, since its legalization, CHS has been seen and diagnosed with some frequency at Vermont emergency rooms over the past couple of years as testified to by Dr Adam Cohen of SVMC.
But despite all the health hazards now well documented, the current decrepit & inept POTUS is joyfully planning to give the dangerous drug a green light in hopes of buying yet more votes from young people – the very demographic which Marijuana poses the greatest risks to.
So do toke away as the US government deeply appreciates your being compromised and certainly couldn’t care less if you are ill or even die, as that very fact has been more than evidenced by our nation’s vile abortion decrees and its crusade for euthanasia.
Without any doubt, despicable despots control both this nation and this state.
Hey shadow, you may want to go the the famed Cleveland Clinic to see if you can get treated for Reefer Madness. if you’re hallucinating off of cannabis, you’re not doing it right. (OR just don’t do it, but don’t tell me not to this is America) As per the famed Cleveland Clinic, while Cannabis Hyperemesis Syndrome is real it occurs, it doesn’t really do anything. It goes away and does not long term damage. You just can’t smoke weed. Some would call it an allergy.
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21665-cannabis-hyperemesis-syndrome
By the way according to the Cleveland Clinic the cure for CHS is (checks notes) a cold shower. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21665-cannabis-hyperemesis-syndrome Please click the link. Wow, sounds like an epidemic. Sounds like the world is falling apart. Sounds like again, you don’t know what you’re talking about.
You are correct that it is an epidemic. In fact, according to Vermont’s own ER data, visits increased from 0.4 cases per 10,000 visits to 2.8 per 10,000 visits. 700% increase!!!! Oh the horror!!!!!!
https://www.healthvermont.gov/sites/default/files/document/DSU-CannabisDataReport2023.pdf
“the drug delivers the exact same harmful substances into the lungs, toxins & carcinogens, as do other inhaled products thereby damaging both the lungs & the cardiovascular system.” Like what? Cite your sources. Weed is MUCH MUCH safer and less addictive than tobacco.
Cannabis is a social drug, which you may benefit from (not going to make you any more paranoid) Me thinks you have a case of the squares.
Hey, school must be out – oh wait, it’s only the first week of May….no it isn’t. Rather puzzling…….”Shadow”? Oh, I’m sorry, but you see on VDC, ALL have the right to post under story headliners, not just you & any others who believe that there are a “lot of Taliban” in Israel, who would essentially be no one of sound mind or body.
And in true fashion with that description, the ramblings about a drug that you personally classify as a “social” drug holds no meaning whatever as a classification of any type within the medical dictum whatsoever.
In fact, as per the science which you conveniently & completely ignore, marijuana is a hallucinogenic drug in medical annals. Even if it was reclassified by the dementia-ridden POTUS as he continually panders for votes doesn’t alter the dangerous, addictive, chemical compounds that the drug contains, though it certainly and obviously alters the minds of users who advocate for its widespread use as though it were benign which both the government’s NIH and the CDC very clearly articulate that it is not:
As per the HIH Institute on DRUG ABUSE:
1.) In 2022, an estimated 8.3% of EIGHTH GRADERS, 19.6% of TENTH GRADERS, & 30.7% of TWELTH GRADERS report using this hallucinogenic DRUG.
Among Americans TWELVE and over – approximately 16.3% suffered from a CANNABIS USE DISORDER.
As per the NIH, even casual Marijuana users may experience long lasting PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS such as Schizophrenia in long-term users or in those or in those who imbibe higher potency cannabis.
The THC chemicals disrupt various mental & physical functions within a user’s central nervous system and thereby interfering with the body & brain’s natural functioning causes PROFOUND EFFECTS such as, but not inclusive of: learning & performing tasks including balance, coordination, and reaction time thereby detrimentally impacting tasks such as driving or operating machinery — causing a VAST INCREASE in driving-related crashes and fatalities.
According to CNN, a well-reputed leftist site: DOCUMENTED marijuana-related traffic accidents that required E.R. treatment rose FOUR HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIVE percent in the years following the legalization of this dangerous drug {2010-2021} which impairs function & where in marijuana-related crashes, nearly NINETY PERCENT of the accident victims were brought to the hospital via ambulance and where 22% of the victims under the influence required intensive care. Contrarily, during this same time period studied, DUI related-alcohol crashes are on the decline across the US.
The fact remains that your personal theories about the supposed benign nature of this addictive & mind-altering drug have long been refuted and disproven by your government’s own NIH and CDC as well as by one of your very own news networks where you undoubtably garner much of your one-sided propagandized “news” sources from. Even they recognize the inherent risks & detrimental impacts of this drug’s use.
In closing, it is a proven & inarguable fact that Marijuana remains an addictive substance that causes illnesses and diseases which range from cancer to schizophrenia to higher inclinations of stroke & heart attack – as well as being proven to be the direct cause of the rise of serious & fatal automobile accidents on America’s highway systems, all documented by the US government itself – the head of which, the deluded POTUS, seeks to further propagate by relaxing the classification & laws governing & restricting this dangerous drug.
In conclusion, the evidence is clear and has been made that marijuana is a highly dangerous drug which perilously impacts both brain & body functions, leads to vast increases & poor outcomes in driving accidents, and unequivocally and very obviously alters normal brain function and perceptions.
And as per Harvard University (a somewhat little known & rather insignificant medical school located in Cambridge, MA) reports: All medical research to date thus far conducted has shown that cannabis and placebos provide identical relief in pain associated with disease. In other words, there remains NO evidence that marijuana offers any medical benefits for users whatever.
The randomized controlled study conducted and cited by Harvard included nearly 1500 test subjects with neuropathic pain caused by severe auto-immune disorders and the researcher’s conclusions were that “participants provided with cannabis and participants receiving placebo all reported similar levels of pain relief.
The conclusion for most science-minded and non-addicted persons after researching all the evidence from sources such as noted medical schools nationally & internationally, the NIH, and the CDC is that Marijuana provides no actual benefit for medicinal purpose, and it is, as has long been suggested, directly linked to causing physical & mental disease, impairment, disorder, and ailments which often require medical intervention.
And in accordance with the VDC article posted today, Vermont physicians remain adamantly opposed to the use of this dangerous drug for “recreational” use as well as for imagined medicinal benefits – just as they were once adamant in opposing its legalization here. Their first-hand accounts and their studied research of the drug and its numerous dangers certainly make most people wonder why anyone would continue to argue to the contrary.