Vermont launched its recreational cannabis industry with festive store openings this month. From her office in downtown Burlington, Catherine Burke, an attorney with… Grind and Shea who works with cannabis companies said she could “see people queuing hours before opening time” nearby CeresMed pharmacy.
Growing, sharing and consuming small amounts of cannabis has been legal in Vermont since 2018. Now entrepreneurs can apply for six types of business licenses – as cannabis growers, manufacturers, retailers, wholesalers, testing labs or for integrated licenses. The state estimates Taxable cannabis retail will reach $225 million a year by 2025, bringing in $45 million in tax revenue.
Companies in the cannabis industry have to do significantly more than a normal business to open their doors, Burke said. They have to show that they have a place to operate, are on their way to get banking and insurance, and indicate how they want to train employees, among other things. All of these can come with additional restrictions, and not all landlords, insurance companies and banks want to partner with the industry, she said. Cannabis companies must also learn and apply the state-wide seed-to-sale tracking system and each employee must be licensed to work in the industry, including background checks.
Sometimes cannabis companies have to pay their taxes in cash.
For farmers adding cannabis to their crop list, a critical step is to legally separate their cannabis and non-cannabis businesses, as otherwise their federal funding could be at risk. Cannabis is still illegal at the federal level, so farmers participating in federal crop insurance, disaster relief, conservation or other activities programs and planning to join the industry may find that funding threatened.
One of the additional duties for Trevor Schell, chief executive of X-tract a small St. Albans-based company that extracts cannabis oils used to fill vape cartridges and make edibles must ensure that the cannabis entering its facility has been properly grown, harvested, dried and tested under the new state regulations. “All the boxes have to be checked before we touch it,” he said. In addition to extracting cannabis oils, the company makes cannabis flower pre-rolls.
“We’ve all worked hard and it’s exciting to see this day coming,” he said,
Towns and villages in Vermont are allowed to require their own permits in addition to state permits, which increases the workload of a start-up. Of about 225 geographic entities in Vermont, about 10 percent chose to do so, Burke said.
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