Vermont House Votes on Medical Cannabis Program Expansion

Yesterday, the Vermont House approved a preliminary bill H. 170 that would remove a current requirement for medical cannabis patients to have contact with a specialist for three months after being referred by a health care provider. The bill also adds three more qualifying conditions, Crohn’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and allows up to a total of eight dispensaries to operate statewide.

Just last week, the Vermont Senate passed a similar bill S.16, which would allow for the expansion of medical cannabis parameters in the state. The bill, which advanced through a preliminary 10-0 vote, is similar to the original legislation that went through in February but with the addition of the aforementioned three medical conditions qualifying patients for the medical cannabis registry. Ann Pugh, House Human Services Chair, stated her support and confidence in the current bill. “Many Vermonters benefit from the using cannabis in managing their symptoms,” she said. “These carefully crafted changes will allow them to get the relief they need from their debilitating disease.”

Both bills plan to add another four licenses to the exiting four dispensary licenses currently held within the entire state. Before S.16 was passed, that part of the bill was modified to instead allow the current license holders to open up to two additional locations. For those hoping to open their own dispensaries this is not ideal, but with fewer than 4,000 patients currently on the registry, opting for additional locations as oppose to additional licenses is potentially a way to keep costs down, while giving dispensary owners a chance to make a profit. Under the new expansion, dispensaries would also be given the ability to operate as for-profit businesses whereas they were required to identify as nonprofits before.

The last addition made to the current law would allow patients to grow their own medical cannabis while still being able to purchase up to two ounces from local dispensaries. The current legislation only allows for one or the other. This made things arduous for some who did not live within close proximity of one of the four dispensaries and were forced to choose a how they would receive treatment.

The Vermont legislative session is set to end on May 6, but there’s high hope that these bills will receive further consideration this week.