Shortly after the legal weed market opened 11 months ago, the Cannabis Regulatory Commission cited five cannabis operators — Ascend, Curaleaf, Verano, GTI and Acreage — for selling to the public during times reserved for registered patients.
These violations are still happening, but with less frequency.
Acreage Holdings, doing business as The Botanist, and Verano, known to its customers as Zen Leaf, each paid a $5,000 fine this year for failing to prioritize patients in their shops.
“Verano prioritized Adult Use consumers over patients by limiting point-of-sale locations at a 9 (for Adult Use) to 1 (patients) ratio, resulting in a patient waiting in excess of 30 minutes to receive a pick-up order,” according to the violation letter in February.
The violation occurred at the Neptune Township dispensary on Dec. 13, the letter said.
A patient made the complaint on the same day and a commission investigator visited the location to verify it on Dec. 15, according to the investigatory report.
According to the patient’s complaint letter, cited in the investigator’s report, budtenders kept six medical customers waiting for more than 30 minutes while ringing up recreational buyers.
“I am not sure why that female budtender could not ring any of us up, or why she couldn’t just be honest when I asked. I did not address this any further with people in the store because I didn’t want to cause a scene,” the complaint said. “Medical patients should not have to wait…
