Vermont’s Cannabis Control Board issued its first license this week for retail marijuana cultivation in the state.
Officials say more licenses are in the pipeline but frustration is growing for some who are trying to plant their roots in the industry.
“I’m doing everything in my power to be ready to open on October first,” said Scott Sparks of the Vermont Hempicurean store.
Sparks has been selling CBD in Brattleboro for four years but wants to have a retail shop for marijuana next to the Vermont Hempicurean.
Sparks is still waiting to hear back on his retail preapproval but is going ahead with the needed work.
“I’ve had multiple security companies come in and review it multiple times apiece,” Sparks said.
“It’s like one step forward two steps back,” he said about rules in the industry. “The rules change somewhat. They get rules added to them. You think you are doing the right thing and then you have to back up and do something different.”
Other states like Massachusetts and Maine have already legalized retail cannabis stores. Vermont is scheduled to join them on Oct. 1. But the drug remains illegal at the federal level.
“We do great with things like craft beer and farmstead cheese. And I see Vermont cannabis falling into that same line of marketing and branding,” Sparks said.
