The first day of adult-use cannabis sales in Vermont is May 1, just over a month away, when residents and tourists 21 years of age or older will be able to purchase regulated cannabis and cannabis products.
However, under current cannabis laws — Act 164 — and the Cannabis Control Board’s proposed final rules for the emerging adult-use cannabis market, farmers and small producers must wholesale their cannabis products to wholesaler or retailer licensees.
Without direct access to consumers, local farmers and small producers will become price takers and not price makers, making them succumb to the demands that intermediaries are willing to offer.
For years, local farmers and small producers in Vermont’s hemp market have been producing and selling cannabidiol flower products to the public, including Amy Lems, of Norwich, founder of Vermont Organic Solutions.
Lems says the current laws and proposed rules “completely ignore several small businesses like mine that are set up as a craft manufacturer selling to both wholesale and online retail to consumers but do not have a brick-and-mortar storefront.” Online sales have proven invaluable to Vermont Organic Solutions and to many small businesses across Vermont, especially during the pandemic.
Entrusting local farmers and small producers with some form of direct-to-consumer access in the upcoming adult-use cannabis market will prove to be a win-win for local retailers, as well.
“Small, local farmers do not deserve a sub-par price for an exceptional product.
“Direct access to consumers will not only showcase each region but also provide a just and equitable cannabis market where small farmers can thrive and lead the Vermont recreational market rather than be abandoned by policies which favor multi-state/national conglomerates that sacrifice quality and prioritize profits over people.
Cannabis will be a sizable portion of Vermont’s economy, but the currently proposed adult-use market structure privileges dispensaries and retailers as the only direct access to consumers and will not guarantee fairness for farmers and small producers.