Saturday, May 21, 2022
High Yields Cannabis/Marijuana/ Weed News
  • Home
  • Cannabis Stocks
  • Cannabis Strains
  • Cannabis Laws
    • Marijuana Laws in All 50 States
    • International Marijuana Laws 2021
  • Product Reviews
  • Growing
  • Write for Us
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Cannabis Stocks
  • Cannabis Strains
  • Cannabis Laws
    • Marijuana Laws in All 50 States
    • International Marijuana Laws 2021
  • Product Reviews
  • Growing
  • Write for Us
No Result
View All Result
High Yields
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Americans Want To Live Where Marijuana Is Legal, Real Estate Survey Finds

Jeremy Vedder by Jeremy Vedder
October 18, 2021
in News
0
Jushi Holdings Inc. Completes Previously Announced

Columbia Care’s D.C.-based dispensary sells 3.5 grams of marijuana for $35, compared to the $65 price for the same amount the company charges patients in Virginia.

By Ned Oliver, Virginia Mercury

READ ALSO

Canopy Growth Acquires Jetty Extracts

Will CBD Smokers Widely Switch To Vaporizers?

As Virginia’s medical marijuana industry closes out its first year of sales, some patients are complaining about long waits to register with the state and high prices once they get into dispensaries.

“A month’s supply costs me between $600 and $700—and that’s not covered by insurance,” says Tamara Netzel, a former schoolteacher from Virginia Beach who suffers from multiple sclerosis and has found cannabis far more effective than any other available pain treatment.

The state’s medical marijuana program is currently the only legal avenue to purchase marijuana in Virginia. The four medical processors currently licensed by the state began opening to patients last October.

But to shop at the medical dispensaries, patients must first get a doctor to write them a recommendation and then apply to the state for a medical marijuana card.

Finding a doctor is easy—dozens of practices have popped up offering to set up online visits with doctors willing to recommend the drug for all manner of ailments. Some even offer deals, promising to reimburse the $100 cost of an appointment if their practitioner declines to sign off on a marijuana card.

But Netzel, who runs a Facebook group for medical marijuana patients, lamented that the next step—getting the state to review an application and issue a medical marijuana card—can take more than a month.

“If a doctor can turn around a letter right away within 30 minutes, why does it take six weeks for the Virginia Board of Pharmacy to send a paper card?” she said.

A spokeswoman for the Board of Pharmacy, Diane Powers, said the board tries to process all applications within 30 business days and is in the process of adding staff to help with an influx of applications, which she said arrive at a rate of more than 1,000 a week.

And by early 2022, she said the board hopes to have a new online application portal in place it says will expedite the process. The board charges patients $50 a year in registration fees.

Patients aren’t the only ones frustrated by the delays. Processors have expressed disappointment at the still-narrow pool of patients who can purchase their products, a figure that as of October 4 sits at just under 33,000.

“You can go to a doctor and get a prescription for an opioid and get it filled the same day, but we have patients waiting six, eight, 12 weeks to get a medical cannabis card,” said Ngiste Abebe, vice president of public policy at Columbia Care, a multi-state operator that sells medical cannabis under its own name in Hampton Roads and recently purchased Richmond-based Green Leaf Medical, which holds the license to sell medical products in central Virginia.

As for the cost of products, Abebe said the small number of patients is one of the reasons costs are still high. With more patients, she said the companies “will have more efficient economies of scale.”

She said the state’s regulations have also contributed to higher costs. She specifically cited Virginia’s status as one of the only states that requires a pharmacist to oversee every aspect of production and sales. The state also requires a pharmacist be available to consult with patients on site.

Jenn Michelle Pedini, executive director of Virginia NORML, the state chapter of the National Organization for the Reform Marijuana Laws, noted the state’s decision to limit the program to five producers, who are only allowed to operate in the specific region of the state in which they are licensed.

“Even though it’s completely normal to see higher prices in the early days of retail sales, it’s these two factors—limited points of access coupled with a small patient population — that are leaving Virginians with a serious case of sticker shock,” Pedini said.

Netzel said that before her local dispensary opened for business last year, she made regular trips to the District of Columbia, where gray-market sales have been tolerated for years.

“I would say I was probably paying about half as much as I am now,” she said.

And she said it’s not lost on her that Columbia Care’s D.C.-based dispensary sells 3.5 grams of marijuana for $35, compared to the $65 price for the same amount the company charges patients in Virginia.

But she said that despite the cost, she has remained loyal to the state’s medical market because she wants to see it succeed so more patients will have access to a treatment she said has helped her in a way no traditional pharmaceuticals could.

At the same time, she is pursuing a new avenue to help lower her expenses: She decided to start growing her own now that it is legal.

“So that is, hopefully, going to help with the cost,” she said.

This story was first published by Virginia Mercury.

Kentucky Medical Marijuana Bill Will Pass If Leadership Has ‘Courage’ To Allow A Vote On New Version, Sponsor Says

Marijuana Moment is made possible with support from readers. If you rely on our cannabis advocacy journalism to stay informed, please consider a monthly Patreon pledge.

[Original Source]

Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0

Related Posts

California cannabis brands fined for violating Environmental Laws
News

Canopy Growth Acquires Jetty Extracts

May 19, 2022
Will CBD Smokers Widely Switch To Vaporizers?
News

Will CBD Smokers Widely Switch To Vaporizers?

May 19, 2022
Massachusetts Adult-Use Marijuana Sales Officially Exceed $3 Billion, State Reports
News

Massachusetts Adult-Use Marijuana Sales Officially Exceed $3 Billion, State Reports

May 18, 2022
Aleafia Health Announces the Appointment of Mark J. Sandler
News

Best Cannabis Movie Quotes of All Time

May 18, 2022
MedMen’s Tracy McCourt appointed President of West Hollywood cannabis organization
News

FDA Issues Warning Over Copycat Cannabis Consumables

May 17, 2022
Medical Marijuana, Inc. CEO Featured on Seeking Alpha’s CEO
News

Arizona Recreational Marijuana Sales Hit A New Record In March, State Reports

May 16, 2022
Next Post
Fire & Flower and Hifyre announce proposed acquisition of PotGuide

Amazon Forestry, Ltd. Publishes 3rd Quarter Financial

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Monthly Spotlight: The Best of Plain Jane CBD

Monthly Spotlight: The Best of Plain Jane CBD

April 8, 2022
The Ultimate Dr. Dabber Stella Vaporizer Review for 2022

The Ultimate Dr. Dabber Stella Vaporizer Review for 2022

April 19, 2022
volcano hybrid review 2022

The 2022 Volcano Hybrid Vaporizer Review: All You Need To Know

March 19, 2022
The Utillian 5 v3 Wax Pen Review for 2022

The Utillian 5 v3 Wax Pen Review for 2022

March 27, 2022

The 7 Best Smell-Proof Weed Bags To Keep Your Bud Stash Safe

April 27, 2022
The Best Synthetic Urine Kit to Pass Your Drug Test in 2022

The Best Synthetic Urine Kit to Pass Your Drug Test in 2022

March 28, 2022
The 10 Best Smell Proof Backpacks for Weed in 2022

The 10 Best Smell Proof Backpacks for Weed in 2022

May 5, 2022
Cronos Group Launches Delicious New Dual-Flavor Cannabis

Watch a new documentary focused on Nipsey Hussle’s cannabis business

May 21, 2022
Former NFL Running Back Marshawn Lynch Launches Premium Blunt Brand

Former NFL Running Back Marshawn Lynch Launches Premium Blunt Brand

0
Major Marijuana Coalition Forms To Coordinate Legalization Push, But Some Key Advocacy Players Aren’t Involved

Major Marijuana Coalition Forms To Coordinate Legalization Push

0
MMJRecs - cannabis leaf

How Medical Marijuana Can Help Treat Sleep Disorders

0
Colorado Cannabis Sales Exceed $2 Billion in 2020

Colorado Cannabis Sales Exceed $2 Billion in 2020

0
Cronos Group Launches Delicious New Dual-Flavor Cannabis

Watch a new documentary focused on Nipsey Hussle’s cannabis business

May 21, 2022
Stem Holdings Reports Fiscal Full Year 2021 Financial

Pasadena cannabis licensing suits can proceed, California panel says

May 21, 2022
Jushi Holdings Inc. Expands Partnership with Laundry

From The Earth seeks atty fees in kickback case against LA suburb

May 21, 2022
Anything Technologies Media, Inc. Gives Update Regarding

3 armed suspects rob marijuana dispensary near Pasadena

May 21, 2022

Archives

  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • March 2020

Categories

  • 1933 Industries
  • 4front Ventures
  • Acreage Holdings
  • Ascend Wellness
  • Ayr Wellness
  • Body & Mind
  • C21 Investments
  • Cannabis Stock Quotes & News
  • Cansortium Inc
  • Captor Capital
  • Ceres Acquisition Corp
  • Chalice Brands
  • Columbia Care
  • Cresco Labs
  • CuraLeaf
  • Gage Growth
  • Glass House Brands
  • Green Thumb Industries
  • Grown Rogue International
  • Harborside
  • Item 9 Labs
  • Jushi Holdings
  • Lowell Farms
  • MariMed
  • MedMen Enterprises
  • News
  • Next Green Wave
  • Planet 13
  • Plus Products
  • Product Reviews
  • Red White & Bloom
  • SLANG Worldwide
  • Sol Global Investments
  • TerrAscend
  • TILT Holdings
  • Trulieve
  • Verano Holdings
  • Vext Sciences
  • Vibe Growth

Recent Posts

  • Watch a new documentary focused on Nipsey Hussle’s cannabis business
  • Pasadena cannabis licensing suits can proceed, California panel says
  • From The Earth seeks atty fees in kickback case against LA suburb
  • 3 armed suspects rob marijuana dispensary near Pasadena

QR Code

Americans Want To Live Where Marijuana Is Legal, Real Estate Survey Finds
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
  • News

© 2021 High Yields