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Medical Cannabis

Pursuant to the CCB’s stated priority to maintain continuity of current medical cannabis program services and determine how the integrated licensees will effectively serve patients as well as the adult-use market, the following recommendations will re-center the state program around patients and caregivers needs, and increase access and affordability to those in the program. These recommendations were developed in collaboration with the Vermont Cannabis Nurses Association.

1. Eliminate the three-month requirement for a bona fide health care professional-patient relationship;

2. Expand the definition of debilitating medical condition to include any disease, condition, or treatment as determined in writing by a qualifying patient’s health care professional;

3. Eliminate the requirement that patients with chronic diseases re-apply annually for their medical card;

4. Allow patients and caregivers to purchase from any registered adult use dispensary or medical dispensary without paying taxes;

5. Allow adult-use retailers to deliver to registered patients;

6. Require medical dispensaries to return to a non-profit status;

7. Increase flowering plant count to 12 and eliminate immature count for patients and caregivers (near alignment with our adult use recommendations);

8. Allow caregivers to care for 5 patient, and patients to have 3 caregivers;

9. Eliminate fingerprint requirements for caregivers;

10. Allow for reciprocity with other state medical programs and registered card holders;

11. Ensure that the limitation of one vertically integrated license per entity be enforced; provide timelines and steps whereby the registry and the regulation of cannabis dispensaries come into compliance with equity.