Industry Urges Cannabis Control Board to Reopen Retailer Licenses
Shortcomings in law are impeding fairness and prosperity in the Vermont adult-use cannabis market. A closed application window for new retailer licenses is exacerbating these harms, but the Cannabis Control Board can mitigate this issue, and the industry calls on them to do so.
Vermont’s adult-use cannabis market is in crisis, in part, because available shelf space doesn’t meet consumer or producer demand. Patrons are beginning to turn elsewhere, and licensed producers are exiting the market. There are already indications that the market is suffering due to the shortage of shelf space. Cultivators and manufacturers struggle to sell their products, not because of quality issues or lack of consumer demand, but because there aren’t enough retailers to support the number of licensed producers trying to reach unserved patrons.
Small, independent cannabis cultivators, manufacturers, and retailers create the extraordinary value that defines the local adult-use cannabis market, and this is why Vermonters and visitors alike choose to shop in the regulated market. Vermont risks losing those businesses and its unique market characteristics and value, jeopardizing over 1,600 jobs and more than $20 million in annual revenue generated for the state. Declining to reopen the retailer license application window will put this progress at risk.
Recently, special interests sought protectionist changes in the State House to halt new retailer license applications, but the industry and the Cannabis Control Board fought back. In response, the CCB established a rule that allows it to refrain from issuing new retail licenses in a town where market demand is already satisfied. However, for political reasons, the Board decided not to include this rule change in its recent amendments to the regulations. The regulatory mechanism that enables the CCB to limit the issuance of new retail licenses in towns where demand is already satisfied has been fully developed. The authority to issue new retail licenses now, once again, rests solely with the agency.
The state's largest member-based nonprofit for the cannabis sector, Vermont Growers Association, its members, and numerous licensed retailers, producers, and patrons we speak with call on the Cannabis Control Board to take action now to mitigate these harms by initiating an emergency rule procedure to enable the Board to avoid issuing new retailer licenses in towns that may already have enough shops, avoiding compounding retail density issues, and to reopen retail licenses for new applications. These steps would help reduce harm and safeguard the welfare of the regulated industry.
The adult-use cannabis market cannot afford to wait 12 months before reopening the retailer license application window to new applicants. The industry and its customers' demand is clear and resounding: the Cannabis Control Board must do what it can to increase available shelf-space now by reopening the retailer license to new applications and in a manner that prevents it from contributing to retail density issues in some towns.