The Vermont Cannabis Control Board (CCB) has issued three more cultivation licenses for individuals looking to participate in the state’s nearing adult-use market, bringing the total to four. The CCB issued the first license to an indoor grower in Rutland County May 16—well after the May 1 deadline. According to WCAX, all four licenses have been awarded to social equity applicants. “They have been torn from their communities, they have been incarcerated, and really putting them at the forefront of the market,” said James Pepper, chair of the CCB. “Trying to correct some of those harms or at least mitigate some of the harms that were caused by cannabis prohibition.” According to the news outlet, 22 out of 104 retail applicants have been pre-qualified thus far; however, official retail proposals are not expected to be accepted until Sept. 1–exactly one month before adult-use sales are supposed to launch.
Posted Melissa Schiller, Cannabis Business Times, 05/24/2022 11:14:00