Vermont medical marijuana dispensaries stay open, but some limit hours

Just hours after Gov. Phil Scott issued a “stay at home” directive Wednesday shutting down all but “essential” businesses, a panel of lawmakers discussed whether medical marijuana dispensaries in Vermont would be permitted to stay open.

Sen. Dick Sears, D-Bennington and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he’s been hearing a lot about the issue in recent days.

“I get as many emails about this as I do about any one subject,” Sears said last week at a meeting of the committee.

However, the panel ended the discussion with no firm answer.

Sen. Joe Benning, D-Caledonia and a committee member who was meeting later in the day with Lindsay Kurrle, secretary of the Agency of Commerce and Community Development, was asked find out whether the dispensaries could remain open during the COVID-19 crisis.

Benning, speaking Thursday morning, said he was told that the medical marijuana dispensaries are considered essential.

The “stay at home” order exempted entities that provide health care, food and pharmaceuticals, as well as certain manufacturers.

Dan Reilly, 40, of Mendon, who is a medical marijuana patient, said Thursday he wasn’t surprised to hear that the dispensaries would be allowed to remain open. [Read more at Valley News]