MONTPELIER — New administrative rules approved by lawmakers Thursday will allow medical marijuana dispensaries to provide therapeutic hemp products and deliver medicinal hemp and marijuana products to the 2,200 people on the state’s registry.

The Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules unanimously approved the new rules after settling on language to exempt farmers from the requirements that the state’s four medical marijuana dispensaries are subject to for hemp production. Some hemp advocates raised concerns at LCAR’s September meeting that the proposed rules could impact the agricultural production of hemp.

The committee has the authority to approve such rules rather than sending them to the full Legislature.

 Delivery of medical marijuana and hemp grown by dispensaries were among the rules approved Thursday by the Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules.

Approval of the rules come close to a pressing deadline. The committee's 45-day review period ends this coming Monday.

New this year are regulations that allow for the state's four dispensaries to grow hemp plants to be used for symptom relief and for the delivery marijuana products to patients on the Vermont Marijuana Registry.

Alaska

Qualifying conditions to become a medical marijuana patient in Alaska include:

• Cancer
• Glaucoma
• HIV/AIDS
• Cachexia (wasting syndrome)
• Nausea
• Muscle spasms
• Multiple sclerosis
• Pain
• Seizures

For a complete list of qualifying conditions and guidelines, please refer to Alaska’s application for medical marijuana registry

Arizona

Qualifying conditions to become a medical marijuana patient in Arizona include:

Vermont Speaker of the House Shap Smith has announced that he’s in favor of moving forward legislation to legalize recreational cannabis.

“It’s clear to me in my discussions with Vermonters that in general, the people in this state probably favor legalization,” Smith said on VPR’s Vermont Edition. “And I certainly believe that we can legalize marijuana if we do it right … we’ve seen what has happened in Colorado and Washington, and we can learn from their experiences.”

Back on May 3rd, I asked, “Will Bernie Sanders Become the Cannabis Candidate?” As regular readers of Marijuana Politics can certainly tell, we are big fans of the Vermont Senator and mainstream presidential candidate, praising his position on cannabis issues and the greater Drug War in post after post. 

After waiting in line for hours at a booth during a medical marijuana convention in San Francisco, Jeff Harrington needed only a two-minute consultation and a written recommendation to become a medical marijuana patient in California. He now can legally purchase and possess marijuana from any one of thousands of marijuana businesses in the state.

Across the country in Connecticut, an established physician-patient relationship is required before patients are deemed qualified for medical marijuana, and only licensed pharmacists can own and operate dispensaries.

1. Ohio - Ohio voters will decide Nov. 3 whether to legalize marijuana with a constitutional amendment to institute a revolutionary proposal that backers say will create a billion-dollar industry in the next four years.

Secretary of State Jon Husted said Wednesday the private investor group ResponsibleOhio had collected 320,267 signatures of registered Ohio voters, 14,676 more than necessary to qualify for the general-election ballot. ResponsibleOhio spent more than $2 million since March on the petition drive to put its proposed Marijuana Legalization Amendment before voters.

PITTSFIELD — A nonprofit company hoping to locate a medical marijuana facility in Pittsfield expects to hear soon whether the application will make it into the next phase of the state Department of Public Health's license review process.

Julia Germaine, of Manna Wellness Inc., said this week that notification from the state could come within a few days. If Manna Wellness is invited to submit information in a second application phase, that would require further details about the nonprofit and its principals.

A third application phase would deal with site location and community support.

In national polls, Republicans are still the biggest opponents of marijuana legalization, but that picture is rapidly changing in Vermont and elsewhere.

Vermont Senate Minority Leader Joe Benning is one of the state’s strongest proponents of legalization. The Republican from Caledonia has written opinion letters to local newspapers arguing that legalization will ensure safer pot products and give the state an economic boost. He is a member of a Senate committee that has been hearing testimony and crafting legislation to legalize recreational pot. The committee is scheduled to file the bill in January when the Legislature reconvenes.

Shayne Lynn, founder of Champlain Valley Dispensary, Inc. gives the Free Press a first look at a grow pod at his facility in Milton. The pod will grow a stain of cannabis high in CBD, known for providing relief from seizures among other things. The strain is also low in THC, the better known substance that gets you high.

Since Shayne Lynn opened his first medical marijuana dispensary in June 2013, demand for products has eclipsed his five-year business plan.

The executive director of Champlain Valley Dispensary and Southern Vermont Wellness is opening a 28,000-square-foot cultivation and research center in Milton that will double capacity for the number of patients the two dispensaries can serve.