Vermont dispensaries to begin selling recreational marijuana

Vermont dispensaries are set to begin selling marijuana for recreational use, though only three will be ready to do so, on opening weekend.

FLORA Cannabis in Middlebury, Mountain Girl Cannabis in Rutland and CeresMED in Burlington will all open, today. A fourth business has been licensed to sell recreational pot but isn’t ready to do so yet.

As happened with the rollout of recreational marijuana sales in other states and in Canada, Vermont’s inaugural weekend will be “more of a soft opening,” as more product manufacturers and testing facilities come online and as more people harvest the plant, said James Pepper, chair of the state Cannabis Control Board.

Vermont will join 14 other states with legal adult-use cannabis sales, according to the Marijuana Policy Project. Four other states — Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, and Virginia, — and Washington, DC, have legalized the use of recreational marijuana, but sales haven’t started there yet.

Vermont’s Cannabis Control Board prioritized review and waived licensing fees for social equity applicants. Such applicants are Black or Hispanic, or from communities that historically have been disproportionately affected by cannabis being outlawed or who have been or had a family member who has been incarcerated for a cannabis-related offense.

More than 30 social equity applicants, mostly growers, have been approved, with Mountain Girl Cannabis, owned by Ana and Josh MacDuff, being the first such retailer.

“For us it was really important to be first in Vermont, or one of the first,” said Ana MacDuff, who is Hispanic.

The Vermont stores say they anticipate having enough supply, but some growers have been frustrated by the timeline.