The Cannabis Control Board was tasked with delivering two reports to state legislators this year and it just submitted its second report, on November 1, that was on solid concentrates, the conversion of hemp into THC, and changes to the medical cannabis registry advisory body. Some of the proposals in the CCB’s second report begin to approach our policy positions, we commend them for the perspectives they appear to share with VGA and many Vermonters, and we urge them to go further.

Act 62 (2021), a bill enacted this past legislative session, and the first bill to change Act 164, tasks the Cannabis Control Board with delivering two reports to the legislature, this year. The first report was delivered on October 15, on state licensing recommendations, state fee recommendations, costs, revenue, and taxes, and local fee recommendations. The second report was just delivered on November 1, on solid concentrates and prohibited products, the conversion of hemp into THC, and changes to the medical cannabis registry advisory body. We break down the second report, below, providing context for each issue and offering our analysis.

Solid Concentrates & Prohibited Products

In 2020, Vermont became the first state in the nation to enact a THC cap in an adult-use marketplace through Act 164, prohibiting cannabis flower with 30% THC or over and solid concentrates with 60% THC or over. Since then, and as a result of grassroots pushback, public backlash, and some out-of-state lobbying by concentrate companies that wish to operate in Vermont, earlier this year state legislators included language in bill S.25 that tasks the CCB with determining if solid concentrates with 60% THC or over should not be prohibited for businesses to incorporate into other products, only. The language in bill S.25 did not mention consumers being able to purchase solid concentrates with 60% THC or over, or the 30% THC cap on cannabis flower, it was strictly a business operations issue that, at the same time, highlighted the impractical nature of THC caps on a marketplace and their broad impact.

We are glad the CCB has embraced the enabling statute’s intent to move as much of the legacy cannabis market as possible into the regulated market for consumer protection and public safety, and we appreciate their boldness in recommending solid concentrates with 60% THC or over not be prohibited in the adult-use marketplace, we only ask they not exclude the THC cap for cannabis flower with 30% THC or over from their reasoning and in their recommendations to legislators. The THC cap language in Act 164, prohibiting cannabis flower with 30% THC or over and solid concentrates with 60% THC or over, is not grounded in science or public health, it will most likely harm Vermonters ability to transition into the legal market, and it will reduce our overall competitiveness amongst consumers and our neighboring legal states, we recommend the entire section be struck down. Read more about our reforms to the prohibitive products section in Act 164 (2020).

hemp Conversation into Delta-9 THC

Earlier this year, a local lobbyist contacted VGA about advocating for language in bill S.25 to allow product manufacturers to convert hemp biomass grown for the hemp marketplace to be chemically reconfigured in a lab into delta-9 THC for sale in the adult-use marketplace. After we explored the issue, which included consulting with our out-of-state grassroots trade associations friends in other legal states, such as California, and Oregon, we determined the concept is not legally sound nor is it in the best interest of the Vermont marketplace, especially considering the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Farms, and Markets (VAAFM) recently banned chemically processed delta-8 in Vermont. The lobbyist proceeded without our support and S.25 includes language that tasks the CCB with considering allowing converting hemp into delta-9 THC.

In the November 1 report the CCB, in consultation with VAAFM, recommends to legislators that the conversion process for turning hemp or CBD into delta-9, and all delta’s, are to be administered under the CCB. Further, the report recommends that should this product meet market that it needs its license type, separate from the current product manufacturing proposals recommended by the CCB, along with unique product restrictions, such as labeling.

While we greatly appreciate seeing the CCB and VAAFM work together on the issue of converting hemp or CBD into delta-9, and on several other important issues in the legal cannabis space, the concept, itself, of converting hemp grown for a federally-regulated marketplace into delta-9 THC for a state-regulated marketplace is challenging for us knowing you cannot grow hemp products to sell on the adult-use cannabis marketplace. Additionally, policy directors in other states have shared that these lab processes are highly energy-intensive and require a large amount of hemp biomass. So the process of converting hemp or CBD into delta-9 THC doesn’t seem to be environmentally friendly and would likely introduce a substantial amount of overly processed biomass into the waste stream, for a technology that likely has a temporary role in the market – demand for hemp processed into delta-9 THC will likely decline or be eliminated once consumers have access to a variety of high THC cannabis and cannabis-related products.

Medical Cannabis advisory Body

The Vermont Marijuana Registry (VMR) is the state’s medical cannabis program, it is administered under the Department of Public Safety and has an advisory committee called the Medical Symptom Relief Oversight Committee (MSROC). Act 164 moves the medical cannabis program under the control of the CCB in January 2022, and, more recently, Act 62 charges the CCB and the MSROC to draft a new advisory body with new duties to oversee the medical program.

The CCB’s recommendations for the new medical cannabis advisory committee includes duties such as Meeting at least six times per year identifying how to best leverage any excess or carry-over funds obtained from licensing, fees, or government appropriation to improve services and products provided, or to reduce costs to registered patients, and suggests the following member structure:

• Six registered patients appointed with the intent to create an inclusive and diverse advisory entity, chosen by the CCB from a list of volunteers from the registry. Criteria should include, but not be limited to, geographical location, socio-economic status, and medical need.

• Three registered caregivers chosen with the intent to create an inclusive and diverse advisory entity, chosen by the CCB from a list of volunteers from the registry. Criteria should include, but not be limited to, geographical location, socio-economic status, and medical need.

• Two licensed health care professionals with knowledge of using cannabis for symptom relief appointed by the CCB from lists provided by the Board of Medical Practice and the Office of Professional Regulation.

• One licensed cultivator with expertise in medical strains appointed by the CCB from a list provided by a Vermont cannabis cultivation advocacy organization.

We are encouraged to see the CCB recommend funds from the adult-use marketplace be appropriated for into the medical program with the purpose of decreasing or eliminating costs for patients and caregivers, we know that affordability is a challenge with the current medical marketplace.