Vermont Cannabis News

The Cannabis Retailers Association of Vermont is leading a fundraiser to assist Vermont cannabis operators who were affected by severe flooding in the state last month.

Officials have confirmed that Vermont cannabis businesses are ineligible for federal disaster aid for losses caused by the state’s recent floods because cannabis remains a federally prohibited, Schedule I drug.

Vermont lawmakers have expanded the state’s medical cannabis program, allowing patients to cultivate a total of 12 plants — up to six mature at once — and adding post-traumatic stress disorder to the program’s qualifying conditions list.

Vermont regulators recently fined a licensed cultivator $20,000 for product diversion and other violations after he posted a video of himself on Instagram delivering cannabis products to an unlicensed New York City dispensary.

Vermont cannabis retailers sold about $5.7 million worth of cannabis products in January.

Multiple physicians’ organizations in Vermont are urging lawmakers to maintain THC potency caps in state-legal cannabis products — currently, flower products are capped at 30% THC potency and there is a 60% max potency for concentrates.

The Vermont Cannabis Control Board is recommending the state drop THC potency caps for cannabis concentrates, arguing the limits will create a black market monopoly and lead cannabis companies to dilute their products with potentially dangerous filler.

Adult-use cannabis sales launched in Vermont over the weekend; at least 70 Vermont municipalities have opted to allow retail cannabis sales.

Vermont regulators issued the state’s first retail licenses for adult-use cannabis shops this week ahead of an October 1 deadline.

The CEO of Vermont State Credit Union clarified that the institution’s recently announced pause on cannabis business account applications will be temporary.

The Vermont State Employees Credit Union will no longer accept new cannabis business accounts due to the sudden uptick in applications as the state prepares to open retail cannabis sales on October 1.

Vermont’s hemp program will be operated by the USDA beginning January 1, 2023, but regulatory oversight for hemp testing and hemp-infused products will remain under the purview of the Vermont Cannabis Control Board.

The Vermont House has passed a bill aimed at capping the potency of cannabis concentrates at 60% THC.

A Vermont bill would expand the list of crimes eligible for expungement, including low-level drug crimes and misdemeanor convictions but excluding violent crimes.

Vermont retail cannabis sales were approved by voters in a majority of the state’s municipalities.

Vermont’s House Judiciary Committee is reviewing three different drug reform bills that range from personal use decriminalization to substance abuse disorder treatment.

The Vermont Cannabis Control Board will not be including all of the cannabis label health warnings recommended by the Vermont Medical Society.

The Vermont Medical Society is calling for a 15% THC limit on adult-use cannabis products, citing studies that suggest THC-rich cannabis is associated with an increase in “emergency department psychiatric visits” and “mental health disorders including psychosis.”

Black people in Vermont are 14 times more likely to be defendants in felony drug cases than white people despite national data showing that Black people and white people use and sell drugs at similar rates.

SLANG Worldwide is set to acquire Vermont medical cannabis company HI-FI in a $25 million deal.

The Vermont Cannabis Control Board said it will prioritize social equity opportunities in the state’s upcoming adult-use cannabis market.

Vermont regulators have officially categorized hemp-based Delta-8 THC products as illegal under state law.

Nearly two-dozen towns and other jurisdictions in Vermont have approved adult-use cannabis retail operations in recent town meetings.