A plan to allow off-site retail cannabis sales at events similar to farmers markets was ultimately rejected by Vermont lawmakers. Cannabis growers have called for direct to consumer sales, as they struggle to survive in a market with limited shelf space.
"It's just a nonstarter for a number of reasons," Cannabis Control Board Chairman James Pepper said in an interview Monday. Pepper called the farmers market proposal "my kind of alternative approach," a policy idea he believes the CCB could have handled under current legislation.
The plan involved having a retailer as a responsible party, with a point-of-sale system and liability for insurance, tax collection and age gating. A number of cultivators could be at each event with their own stalls and the ability to connect with consumers.
Nothing big is in H.321, Pepper said of the legislation that left out the proposal, describing it as "very much a technical amendments bill." The Legislature has sent it to the governor.
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