Five ways how not to screw up Illinois’ burgeoning cannabis business
Tomasz Gliszewski, Founder, Chicago Cannabis Company
With most of our attention being directed at the development of an Illinois recreational or adult-use cannabis bill, we tend to forget that the Illinois medical cannabis program is a PILOT program only, set to expire July 2020 (update: HB0895 will make the program permanent). This creates an opportunity to consider how we can differentiate the recreational program from the medical program.
Is there a difference between recreational and medical cannabis?
The short answer is no. Most people believe the difference between medical and recreational cannabis lies in the method of cultivation or product quality— this is not true. All cannabis products meant for human (or animal) consumption should be produced ethically, sustainably, and responsibly, without containing pesticides, heavy metals, or other hazardous constituents.
It’s important to understand that different compositions or chemical profiles of cannabinoids and terpenoids are likely to exhibit distinctive medicinal properties and, therefore, provide a better understanding of expected therapeutic or psychoactive effects. While there is still not enough research to confidently recommend specific chemical profiles or products for specific medical conditions, we cannot use this excuse forever. Patients should not have to rely on someone’s subjective opinion of expected effects to confidently choose the best cannabis varieties or formulations for their symptoms. When dealing with medical patients, more nuance is necessary.
Differentiate the recreational and medical experience, not just the products
If patients or potential patients see little difference between visiting a recreational dispensary and a medical dispensary, the motivation to obtain a medical cannabis card (often a burdensome and time-consuming process) is diminished. This could lead to an overall decrease in program participation. To help mitigate a potential decline, we are hopeful that health insurance companies will be required to cover medical cannabis — it is medicine after all.
Below are five suggestions to consider as we prepare to expand and improve both the recreational and medical cannabis programs in Illinois.
1. We need more people qualified to give medical advice working at medical dispensaries
Frankly speaking, current “medical” cannabis dispensaries are lacking personnel who are qualified to give medical advice to patients. This observation is based on a review of job qualifications in job postings for “Budtenders”, Patient Care Specialists, or other sales associate type positions in medical dispensaries. Although more experienced sales associates at medical cannabis dispensaries may be good at offering their best opinions, most are likely better suited for the recreational market unless they possess the appropriate medical background.
2. Limit the number of recreational licenses retained for owners of current medical cultivators and dispensaries
From the start, most “medical” cannabis cultivators and dispensaries have positioned themselves in anticipation of a recreational market (our opinion based on branding). It’s worrisome that no red flags went up when the CEO of a publicly-traded medical cannabis company joined Pritzker’s transition team under the governor’s Restorative Justice and Safe Communities Transition Committee.
Is it now a surprise that medical cannabis licensees want the recreational bill to ban new licenses? Will the legislators, who touted building an equitable cannabis industry, now consider this short-sighted policy and other recommendations that may be overly-restrictive, result in higher barriers to entry, or lead to less competition?
Instead of supporting initiatives that would artificially create low supply, we should focus on driving down the cost of cannabis for patients. Instead of expanding to other states or the recreational market, we could dedicate resources and capital raised to creating efficiencies that benefit patients. Instead of limiting or prohibiting home growing all together, we should expand home growing and allow for a reasonable number of plants for personal use.
Unfortunately, people who view cannabis as a means to grow or “diversify their investment portfolio” do not think this way.
3. Prioritize equity to ensure that entrepreneurs of color are included in the expanding industry
If the recreational cannabis bill were to prioritize current medical cannabis cultivation and dispensary license-holders, this would strategically position them years ahead of any newcomers to the recreational market; a major issue considering the lack of black-owned and minority-owned medical cannabis businesses. Automatically expunging records and setting aside licenses for minority-owned cannabis businesses is not enough — it’s just the right thing to do. We must address issues of unjust incarceration but also unequal access to capital.
4. Initial over supply is better than a chronic shortage
Rushing to legalize, without expanding both programs, we risk causing a shortage of supply in both the recreational and medical cannabis markets, similar to what happened in Canada. A recent demand study of the Illinois recreational market predicts that existing medical cannabis cultivators have the capacity to supply between 35 percent and 54 percent of the adult-use market. It also states that we “must be sensitive to those companies’ continued role as meeting the needs of medical cannabis patients and the expected growth in the medical program.”
In other words, the medical program may experience shortages as producers focus more on recreational cannabis sales, and patient enrollment will likely plateau or decrease over time if shortages prevail.
5. Don’t over-tax it!
With everyone boasting about the great sum of tax revenue that cannabis sales are slated to bring in, the state may be tempted to over-tax recreational cannabis sales and maintain high application fees. If this happens, cannabis prices would remain high for consumers, and over-taxation is likely to create an even larger informal market where cannabis prices will be much lower. With that being said, more business for our local weed dealer is not particularly concerning.
Safety First
Let’s be real — there are probably more pesticides in the apple you ate this morning that your typical street weed. If “illegal” cannabis was safe pre-legalization, it’s not suddenly more dangerous post-legalization. Over-regulation, over-taxation, conservative policies, propaganda, and downright fear mongering are the real threat to a flourishing legal cannabis market.
