Cannabis Control Board Update
Over the past month, the Cannabis Control Board held its fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth special meetings to discuss racial equity, the state medical program, youth prevention, and to finalize their consultancy position. Also, Brynn Hare, the Executive Director of the Cannabis Control Board, is expected to begin later this month and the consultancy position is expected to be announced as well.
“Mark highlighted several important facts in his testimony including that BIPOC only accounts for 24% of total home ownership and 2% of total farmer ownership in Vermont. Matt Leonetti spoke to the importance of including those harmed by cannabis prohibition and ensuring regulation does not exclude felons, and Shaleen Title had a great presentation and urged the Board to turn to local advocate groups representing the illicit market for guidance.”
The Fifth Meeting
On Thursday, June 17, 2021, the Cannabis Control Board convened to discuss the issue of racial equity in the emerging adult-use marketplace. The guests invited to speak were numerous and included friend and Vermont Cannabis Equity Coalition partner Mark Hughes of Vermont Racial Justice Alliance and Justice For All, friend and ally Matt Leonetti, hemp farmer and veteran cultivator, Beau Kilmer, of RAND, and Shaleen Title, a former inaugural commissioner for the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, and a Distinguished Cannabis Policy Practitioner in Residence at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law’s Drug Enforcement and Policy Center.
Mark Hughes kicked off guest testimonies for the day by recognizing the existence of systemic racism in our country, in Vermont, and especially in the emerging adult-use marketplace. Mark highlighted several important facts in his testimony including that BIPOC only accounts for 24% of total home ownership and 2% of total farmer ownership in Vermont. Matt Leonetti spoke to the importance of including those harmed by cannabis prohibition and ensuring regulation does not exclude felons, and Shaleen Title had a great presentation and urged the Board to turn to local advocate groups representing the illicit market for guidance.
The Sixth Meeting
On Thursday, June 24, 2021, the Board convened to discuss the state medical marketplace. The guests included were a friend and ally Amelia Machia, a recognized medical cannabis patient advocate and co-owner of Apollo Farms, friend and ally Jessilyn Dolan, founder of Vermont Cannabis Nurses Association and co-founder of NurseGrown Organics, Meredith Mann, Owner of Magic Mann, local caregiver Erik St. Croix, Jim Romanoff, Chair of the Marijuana Symptom Relief Oversight Committee and Dr. Joe McSherry, physician, and member of the Marijuana Symptom Relief Oversight Committee.
Amelia Machia spoke to the extensive reformations that she and others are seeking to enact to improve the state medical cannabis program, including recognizing that opioids are a leading cause of death in Vermont and that expanding access to medical cannabis, as other states have done, is a material win for Vermonters. Merideth Mann spoke to the importance of fostering confidence amongst medical professionals, and Erik St. Croix gave an impassionate account of the unique challenges presented with providing relief for young children. To conclude the testimony for the day, Jessilyn Dolan addressed the current inequalities in the medical cannabis program, explained why Vermonters don’t see value in the program, as-is, and spoke to the extensive reformations that she and Amelia are seeking.
The Seventh Meeting
On Thursday, July 1, 2021, the Board departed from its regular schedule of the seven priorities it defined to form the adult-use marketplace to briefly convene to take public comment then to move into a long executive session to discuss the final candidate for the consultancy position. Side note, Chair Pepper announced they will have a permanent office, soon, and this was the first Board meeting where every commissioner was present, in-person, they convened in the second-floor conference room in the Agency of Agriculture, Farms, and Markets.
The Eighth Meeting
On Thursday, July 8, 2021, the Board convened to discuss youth prevention. The guests included were Dr. Andrea Villanti, Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Vermont Center on Behavior and Health, University of Vermont, Cindy Hayford, Director of Deerfield Valley Community Partnership, Jessica Summers, Director of Operations at Prevention Works! Vermont, Kate Nugent, Executive Director of Winooski Partnership for Prevention, and Dr. Jennifer Pearson, Associate Professor, University of Nevada, Reno School of Community Health Sciences.
First to speak was Dr. Andrea Villanti who gave a presentation on ‘Informing cannabis prevention: surveillance and marketing’. Andrea spoke about the importance of keeping the harm perception low amongst the population, especially the youth, and that a harm-reduction policy position is best. Jessica Summers, Cindy Hayford, and Kate Nugent presented together and discussed a strategic framework for prevention when an adult-use market forms and stressed that youth prevention will be a community effort. There was a fear-based positionality present in most of the speakers throughout this Board meeting, through the use of terms like at-risk and harm perception and avoiding the normalization of cannabis in Vermont. As the trade association for cannabis professionals, and as a founding partner of the Vermont Cannabis Equity Coalition, we advocate for an education-based position to craft policy from, and not a fear-based position, we believe the safest and most trusted market will come through the normalization of the plant.
At the end of this meeting, Chair Pepper announced the Board now has a permanent office at 89 Main Street, in Montpelier and that Brynn Hare, Executive Director of the Board, will begin later in July.