Business & Tech

Connecticut Pharmacists Eye New Opportunities in Medical Marijuana Field

Dispensary requirement creates potential new career for licensed pharmacists.

The state’s new medical marijuana law is presenting new opportunities for Connecticut pharmacists, the Hartford Courant reports.

The law allows the licensing of between three to five dispensaries, with a maximum of 10, where patients with a prescription from a doctor can purchase medical marijuana by 2014. It also requires that such dispensaries be run by state-licensed pharmacists.

The Courant reported that 21 pharmacists have filed the paperwork to run a medical marijuana dispensary in Connecticut.

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But the process is not without its challenges. For one, little research has been done concerning the use of marijuana as medicine.

The Courant article quotes Dr. Richard Alper, a University of St. Joseph associate professor in the department of pharmaceutical sciences, who said that he is concerned “that most of what we know about medical marijuana is through 4,000 years of anecdotal information. …. Medical marijuana has not undergone the rigorous testing that FDA requires for other products."

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Some municipalities have taken a cautious approach concerning medical marijuana.

Towns such as West Hartford and Farmington, among others, have adopted moratoriums on having dispensaries and manufacturing facilities located within their borders from between four months to a year.

Others, however, have taken a different approach.

In Simsbury, for example, town officials are looking into changing its zoning regulations to accommodate manufacturing facilities.

Also, a “cultivation group” is looking at Simsbury locations for a potential medical marijuana production facility.


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