{"id":121,"date":"2021-06-28T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-28T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/CBMinAFodHRwczovL3d3dy53ZnNiLmNvbS9uZXdzL2Fuc3dlci1kZXNrLWhvdy13aWxsLXJlY3JlYXRpb25hbC1tYXJpanVhbmEtaW1wYWN0LXRoZS1tZWRpY2FsLW1hcmlqdWFuYS1wcm9ncmFtL2FydGljbGVfNmUxZDk5OGMtZDg0Yy0xMWViLWFhZTktY2IwNzc4ZWNkMDNlLmh0bWzSAQA"},"modified":"2021-06-28T07:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-06-28T07:00:00","slug":"answer-desk-how-will-recreational-marijuana-impact-the-medical-marijuana-program-wfsb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/?p=121","title":{"rendered":"ANSWER DESK: How will recreational marijuana impact the medical marijuana program? – WFSB"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(WFSB) \u2013 The Channel 3 Answer Desk is looking at what will happen to the medicinal marijuana program.<\/p>\n

Anyone over the age of 21 can legally carry pot, and at some point next year, people will also be able to buy it in CT, but does the law do anything to protect medical marijuana patients?<\/p>\n

The medical marijuana program started in 2012. Now, more than 50 conditions qualify for a medical marijuana card.<\/p>\n

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So, what\u2019s being done to make those patients have access to the drug?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to make sure that supply remains available for the medical patients,\u201d said Michelle Seagull, Commissioner of the Department of Consumer Protection.<\/p>\n

For more than 50,000 people in Connecticut, nothing changes on July 1 when possession of marijuana becomes legal. That\u2019s because they have a medical marijuana card.<\/p>\n

Officials want to make sure those patients continue to have the same access to pot, even as Connecticut builds a marketplace for anyone over the age of 21 to buy it.<\/p>\n

\u201cProtect against supply shortages, make sure patients have access, don\u2019t end up in long lines or don\u2019t have products available,\u201d Seagull said.<\/p>\n

How will that happen? For starters, supply of medical marijuana will be a priority. Seagull says any medicinal growers, supplies, and retailers who want to get into the recreational market will need to show they aren\u2019t taking supply from medicinal users. They\u2019re also not allowed to move to find more recreational users.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does give the commissioner the authority to make those changes on the fly,\u201d said House Majority Leader Jason Rojas.<\/p>\n

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Lawmakers also gave the Dept. of Consumer Protection the ability to fix problems, including the power to limit recreational sales un order to ensure medical patients\u2019 needs are met.<\/p>\n

Medical users can start growing plants of their own in October, two years earlier than everyone else.<\/p>\n

Should patients continue to pay the yearly $100 fee for a medical card?<\/p>\n

\u201cThat means you\u2019re, you know, working with your doctor, the product itself is going to be give to you, dispensed by a pharmacist,\u201d Seagull said.<\/p>\n

Seagull says that\u2019s a personal choice, but she gives a few reasons why patients should. First, it means a doctor and a pharmacist are involved to make sure you get the product you need. Second, the medicinal market can have advantages for patients. It may feature products not available to recreational users, and with higher THC levels.<\/p>\n

Those rules haven\u2019t been decided. Medicinal marijuana is also not taxed.<\/p>\n

Third, Seagull says having a license ensure patients get priority when it comes to supply.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not going to have you in those sort of categories of people who need to be protected,\u201d Seagull said.<\/p>\n

Seagull also wasn\u2019t sure how retail sales will impact the decision to add more conditions to the medical marijuana program in the future. She says it\u2019s possible patients will be able to get their conditions added because they can say how marijuana helped them.<\/p>\n

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(WFSB) \u2013 The Channel 3 Answer Desk is looking at what will happen to the medicinal marijuana program. Anyone over the age of 21 can legally carry pot, and at some point next year, people will also be able to buy it in CT, but does the law do anything to protect medical marijuana patients? The medical marijuana program started in 2012. Now, more than 50 conditions qualify for a medical marijuana card. So, what\u2019s being done to make those patients have access to the drug? \u201cWe want to make sure that supply remains available for the medical patients,\u201d said… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=121"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}