The Cannabis Catch-Up: Here Comes Another Vermont Dispensary 

The first medical marijuana dispensary in southwestern Vermont is one step closer to opening.

With little fuss, regulators in Bennington approved PhytoScience Institute’s plan to open on Depot Street in a space formerly used by the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles. The dispensary would be the first in Bennington County, reports the Bennington Banner.

It will open in March. Dispensaries operate already in Burlington, Montpelier, Brandon and Brattleboro, and PhytoScience is expected to open another location in St. Albans.

As of January 23, there were 5,458 registered medical marijuana patients in Vermont, according to Lindsey Wells, the state’s marijuana program administrator. Once 7,000 patients register, the state will issue a sixth dispensary license. Wells anticipates that could happen in July or August of this year.

Here are some other cannabis stories we read this week:

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February 6: An enterprising Girl Scout set up shop outside a San Diego pot dispensary and sold 312 boxes of Girl Scout cookies over just a few hours. Insert pun or cliché about the munchies here. [Luis Gomez, San Diego Union-Tribune]

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February 7: Meet Eli Harrington, the cofounder of Heady Vermont. The company is part cannabis news outlet, part events planner and all cheerleader for the state’s nascent legal weed sector. [Molly Walsh, Seven Days]

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February 7: A lawsuit filed in Addison County alleges that the Vermont Hemp Company and its founder, Joel Bedard, took a hemp grower’s crop and have yet to pay her for the harvest. [Sasha Goldstein, Seven Days]

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February 8: The first medical marijuana dispensary in Texas has opened outside Austin. But it’s not quite what one would expect. It looks more like a doctor’s office than a purveyor of pot. [Melissa Repko, Dallas Morning News]

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February 8: In Seattle, where weed has been legal since 2012, officials will vacate an estimated 500 to 600 convictions for misdemeanor marijuana possession dating back to 1997. [Daniel Beekman and Christine Clarridge, Seattle Times]

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February 8: When one thinks of Aspen, Colo., ritzy ski town generally comes to mind. But Aspen denizens (and tourists) aren’t just drinking martinis. Legal pot sales outpaced alcohol receipts in the city last year for the first time. The city’s six cannabis stores raked in a combined $11.3 million in revenue, compared to $10.5 million for the five liquor stores.

“I think it shows adults are open to change,” said Max Meredith, store manager at the Stash dispensary. “There are new substitutes, and they can be handled responsibly. And perhaps there are a few less late-night fights.” [Rick Carroll, Aspen Times]