A majority of Americans agree with states’ decisions to classify licensed medical cannabis facilities as “essential services” to the community – a designation that permits them to maintain retail operations during regional ‘stay-at-home’ orders.
Tag: dispensaries
“All that is needed by Congress is the passage of a one line legislative fix to protect tens-of-thousands of American jobs in a supply chain that serves over three million medical marijuana patients.”
NORML’s Statement Regarding the Designation of Medical Cannabis Dispensaries as “Essential Services”
The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws is issuing the following statements regarding the continued operation of medical cannabis dispensaries during the COVID crisis.
State regulators have begun issuing the first of nearly 200 licenses to medical cannabis providers. Licensed dispensaries are expected to be operational in Missouri by this spring.
Researchers reported, “Compliance with laws restricting stores to selling recreational marijuana to individuals 21 or older presenting a valid ID was high. … Refusal rates exceeded those for alcohol.”
“Our results are consistent with theories that predict that marijuana legalization will displace illicit criminal organizations and decrease crime through changes in security behaviors or substitution toward more harmful substances.”
Legislation to significantly expand patients’ access to medical cannabis will become law later this fall following a decision today by Maine lawmakers to override the Governor’s veto.
The closure of medical marijuana dispensaries is associated with an increase in larceny, property crimes, and other criminal activities, according to data published in the Journal of Urban Economics. “[W]e find no evidence that closures decreased crime,” authors wrote. “Instead, we find a significant relative increase in crime around closed dispensaries.”