{"id":945,"date":"2021-09-06T10:25:06","date_gmt":"2021-09-06T10:25:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/CBMifmh0dHBzOi8vd2VzdGZhaXJvbmxpbmUuY29tLzEzOTkzNS93aHktd2FpdC1uYXRpb25zLWxhcmdlc3QtY2FubmFiaXMtY29tcGFueS1zYXlzLWdldC1tZWRpY2FsLWNhcmQtbm93LWFoZWFkLW9mLXJldGFpbC1yb2xsb3V0L9IBAA"},"modified":"2021-09-06T10:25:06","modified_gmt":"2021-09-06T10:25:06","slug":"why-wait-curaleaf-nations-largest-cannabis-company-says-get-medical-card-now-ahead-of-retail-rollout-westfair-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/?p=945","title":{"rendered":"Why wait? Curaleaf, nation’s largest cannabis company, says get medical card now, ahead of retail rollout – Westfair Online"},"content":{"rendered":"

A<\/span>lthough recreational marijuana retail stores are unlikely to open in Connecticut or New York until next year, the nation\u2019s largest cannabis operator, Curaleaf,  is encouraging interested adults to beat the presumed rush by getting their medical marijuana cards now.<\/p>\n

That way, Curaleaf says, such customers will have a leg up on those choosing to wait until retail stores open, having already secured a card that can be used for both medical and recreational cannabis.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people in both states are definitely interested in (recreational) cannabis,\u201d Curaleaf Dispensary Manager Stacia Woodcock told the Business Journal. \u201cBut they haven\u2019t gotten their medical card. They don\u2019t have to wait what could be one, one-and-a-half years \u2014 they can go through the medical program now and still participate once adult-use cannabis comes on the market.\u201d<\/p>\n

While that may sound legally dubious, she said that a general easing of what constitutes a medical reason for using marijuana has taken place around the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cA doctor today can essentially certify for any reason they see fit,\u201d said Woodcock, a onetime pharmacist and pharmacy manager at Walgreens in New York City. \u201cThat opens it up for a lot of people. So many people are coming out of Covid-19 with PTSD, anxiety and other conditions, and they\u2019re looking for more holistic approaches to what they\u2019re doing and how they\u2019re living.\u201d<\/p>\n

While many people think medical marijuana is still used primarily to treat such conditions as glaucoma, arthritis and a host of other debilitating diseases, \u201cchronic pain\u201d is indeed listed by both the Connecticut and the New York Departments of Consumer Protection as qualifying conditions \u2014 with some qualifications.<\/p>\n

New York defines \u201cchronic pain\u201d as that which \u201cdegrades the health and functional capability of the patient.\u201d Connecticut requires chronic pain \u201cof at least 6 months duration associated with a specified underlying chronic condition refractory to other treatment intervention.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Woodcock said, \u201cPractically anyone over 35 has chronic pain of some kind, and they may not want to be taking an opioid or Advil every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Headquartered in Wakefield, Massachusetts, Curaleaf \u2014 which has four medical marijuana operations each in Connecticut (including Stamford) and New York (including Newburgh) \u2014 expects to triple its cannabis production output in the Nutmeg State once regulations are finalized, at which point it may also add more retail stores.<\/p>\n

There is plenty of money to be made in both medical and recreational cannabis. Curaleaf is the dominant force, with a market cap of $8.23 billion dwarfing that of its nearest competitor, Canadian firm Canopy Growth, at $6.83 billion.<\/p>\n

Curaleaf\u2019s second-quarter earnings were $312 million, up 20% sequentially and 166% year-over-year. At its Aug. 9 earnings call, Executive Chairman Boris Jordan noted that the expansion of Connecticut, New York and New Jersey through legislation represents \u201ca potential new $8 billion annual addressable market opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to a Statista report published last October, U.S. medical marijuana sales could reach nearly $12 million in the U.S. On Aug. 25, Market Research Future reported that the medical cannabis market is anticipated to register a compound annual growth rate of 18.4% to achieve a value of $33.2 billion by 2027.<\/p>\n

In its most recent report, the Connecticut Office of Fiscal Analysis said that the state could earn $4.1 million in state and local marijuana taxes for fiscal year 2022, which would rise to $73.4 million by FY 2026.<\/p>\n

New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli\u2019s office is estimating the Empire State will take in $20 million in marijuana tax revenue in fiscal year 2022, increasing to $245 million by FY 2024.<\/p>\n

Woodcock said another factor playing into the windfall is the fact that legalization should effectively end the sector\u2019s black market.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have access to a registered pharmacist with expertise in a dispensary,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd they\u2019re selling regulated products that are tested and consistent, with the same potency, and you know exactly what\u2019s in it \u2014 as opposed to buying something off the street that\u2019s been grown in a basement where rat poison is present.\u201d<\/p>\n

Woodcock also emphasized that the new line of marijuana products coming to market are not limited to smoking or other inhalant measures. While gummies and oils have become more familiar, Curaleaf is rolling out Select Squeeze, which allows a consumer to pour a 5mg dose of THC into the beverage of their choice.<\/p>\n

Effects of the product \u2014 which comes in lemon-lime, watermelon, strawberry-lemonade and \u201chint of sweet\u201d flavors \u2014 can be felt in about 15 minutes, Woodcock said.<\/p>\n

As for the immediate future, Curaleaf continues to wait for social equity issues related to recreational marijuana to be ironed out. But Woodcock said reciprocity laws in New York \u2014 whereby a resident can legally buy cannabis products in 16 states and D.C. \u2014 should further help move the ball forward. (Connecticut does not acknowledge medical marijuana cards from any other state.)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s still illegal at the federal level,\u201d she noted. \u201cBut we\u2019re seeing some movement there as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-New York) has introduced a draft bill, the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, which would legalize cannabis at the federal level. A recent Pew Research Center poll found that about 60% of Americans favor legalizing marijuana for both medical and recreational use.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although recreational marijuana retail stores are unlikely to open in Connecticut or New York until next year, the nation\u2019s largest cannabis operator, Curaleaf,  is encouraging interested adults to beat the presumed rush by getting their medical marijuana cards now. That way, Curaleaf says, such customers will have a leg up on those choosing to wait until retail stores open, having already secured a card that can be used for both medical and recreational cannabis. \u201cA lot of people in both states are definitely interested in (recreational) cannabis,\u201d Curaleaf Dispensary Manager Stacia Woodcock told the Business Journal. \u201cBut they haven\u2019t gotten… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":946,"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-945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/why-wait-curaleaf-nations-largest-cannabis-company-says-get-medical-card-now-ahead-of-retail-rollout-westfair-online.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/945","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=945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/945\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}