Ed Stannard 2016-01-15 05:59:46
Sky High Business
MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES, JOBS, PATIENTS, PARTICIPATING PHYSICIANS, APPROVED CONDITIONS ALL ON THE RISE IN CONNECTICUT
Medical marijuana is without question a growing industry in Connecticut, with close to 8,000 registered patients, and the state plans to expand this year by granting licenses to three new dispensaries, adding to the original six.
There are also seven new medical conditions in the regulatory pipeline, expanding the 11 approved in the statute that legalized the drug.
Looking at “the number of patients that have access to the medicine, there’s success,” says Jonathan Harris, commissioner of the Department of Consumer Protection, which oversees the program. His most recent count was 7,912, better than expectations. “We had predicted that we would eclipse 6,000 during this year,” Harris says. “What we view as the opening of the program was when product went online” in September 2014.
Connecticut became the 17th state to legalize medical marijuana in 2012, according to a report by Cannabiz Media, which recently published a report analyzing the state’s program. There are now 23 states, plus the District of Columbia, that have legalized weed for medical use.
Harris says the program has generated at least 225 jobs — 180 among the growers and 45 to 50 in the dispensaries.
Another mark of the program’s success is the number of doctors who have registered to certify patients to buy medical marijuana. The number has almost doubled, to 405, since July, when Harris launched an informational campaign to get physicians on board.
Dr. Judith Major of Monroe advertises herself on the website marijuanadoctorconnecticut.com. “We have fantastic results,” she says of the drug, adding that “we pioneered the program.” She would not say how many patients she has certified to purchase medical marijuana, but she sees many veterans because the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ medical centers do not participate in the program. Marijuana is still illegal according to federal law, although the federal government has not interfered with states’ medical marijuana programs.
Major says one of the benefits of marijuana is that patients are able to get off addictive opiate painkillers. “The patients are hugging and kissing us, and 85 to 90 percent come back after a year,” Major says. She charges $150.
The initial legislation approved 11 conditions conditions eligible for treatment with marijuana: cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, spasticity caused by damage to the spinal cord, epilepsy, cachexia, wasting syndrome, Crohn’s disease and posttraumatic stress disorder.
The legislation also set up a four-member Board of Physicians to review petitions for new conditions to be added to the list. Awaiting regulatory approval are amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Fabry disease, ulcerative colitis, sickle cell disease, post-laminectomy syndrome with chronic radiculopathy, severe psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, and complex regional pain syndrome.
“Connecticut has really tried to be very smart about adding conditions,” says Ed Keating, vice president of government affairs for Cannabiz Media.
“We have found in looking at a lot of states … Connecticut has done a very good job of building out what it said it was going to build, which is a pharmaceutical model,” Keating says. “They’ve really managed to create a very tight and, by our research, a very well-managed system.”
Everyone involved must be registered with the state: all of the growers’ and dispensaries’ employees, as well as doctors, patients and the labs that test the products. Even each individual product must be registered.
“Each product has its own license,” states Cannabiz Media’s report. “In order to secure these licenses, you must have an active license as a producer and the marijuana must have been tested by a laboratory licensed and located in Connecticut.”
As of Oct. 29, according to Cannabiz Media, “the state had over eight hundred active licenses covering licensed marijuana businesses, professionals and products.”
In Connecticut, growers and dispensaries are separate operations. And there’s a third entity involved: the laboratories. Three have contracts with the state to test the products that are sold to the public.
Other states, such as New York, Massachusetts and Florida, use “the old Henry Ford model … You own the rubber trees, you manufacture the tires,” says Keating. In other words, one company is both grower and dispenser of the product.
Connecticut’s line of separation may be breached if CT Pharmaceutical Solutions, a grower based in Portland, receives a dispensary license. Its backers are among 19 who have applied to operate one of three new dispensaries the state plans to approve this quarter, which “may make it more convenient” for patients, Keating says.
One criticism Cannabiz Media had was the transparency of Connecticut’s program. “They provide really no data about the revenue generated by dispensaries or growers, which translates back into how much tax is being generated,” says Larry Schwartz, president of Cannabiz.
He says the list of doctors who have registered to certify patients also is not public, unlike in other states.
Both growers and dispensaries have to pay application fees and annual registration fees. Those for the producers are especially high: $25,000 to apply and $75,000 annually, both nonrefundable. The dispensaries’ fees are much lower: a $1,000 application fee and $5,000 yearly registration.
Patients must pay a $100 registration fee to the state, in addition to the doctors’ charges, which can total $200 or more.
Colin Souney of Guilford, who smokes medical marijuana to treat his post-traumatic stress disorder, says the program was “a huge success” in 2015, with the only issue being pricing, because insurance companies will not cover the drug.
“The available potency is up to 28 percent right now, which is great,” Souney says. That level of THC, one of the active ingredients in marijuana, compares to 20 percent or less in weed that is available on the street, he says. “I can’t believe anybody would have any complaints about what the dispensaries are offering right now,” he says.
One dispensary director, Nick Tamborrino, who is also a financial backer of Bluepoint Wellness of Connecticut in Branford, says the past year has been overwhelmingly positive for his business, especially given the rise in patients from 3,000 in March 2015 to almost 8,000 today.
“What’s quite remarkable is the success that patients are finding with the treatment and the formulations,” he says.
Tamborrino says about 1,800 patients are registered with his dispensary and he sees 50 to 100 a day. “It’s been quite smooth. What’s fascinating is the number of doctors that have jumped on board.” No longer are just a few doctors certifying patients, he says.
“Overall it’s been a wonderful experience.”
By the numbers
3 Laboratories contracted with the state to test medical marijuana-related products sold to the public
7 New qualifying medical conditions for marijuana in the regulatory pipeline – amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Fabry disease, ulcerative colitis, sickle cell disease, post-laminectomy syndrome with chronic radiculopathy, severe psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, and complex regional pain syndrome
11 Conditions currently eligible for treatment with marijuana – cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, spasticity caused by damage to the spinal cord, epilepsy, cachexia, wasting syndrome, Crohn’s disease and post-traumatic stress disorder
225 Jobs created by the industry, including 180 among growers and 45 to 50 in dispensaries, according to state data
405 Doctors registered to certify patients to buy medical marijuana
800 Active licenses covering licensed marijuana businesses, professionals and products, as of Oct. 29
7,912 Registered medical marijuana patients in Connecticut
Published by New Haven Register formerly 21st Century Media Newspapers . View All Articles.
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