State efforts to legalize marijuana have led to a variety of standards, policies, and regulations. They have also created an entirely new lexicon. Two of the most common terms in that lexicon are ‘marijuana dispensary’ and ‘cannabis pharmacy’. Do the terms mean different things? And if so, what are the differences between the two types of establishments?
One could argue that the distinction is merely semantic. But I suppose that depends on the state you are talking about. Some form of cannabis is now legal in thirty-eight states and the District of Columbia. Just under twenty of the states with legalized medical cannabis also allow recreational marijuana. This explains why the two terms exist.
The Marijuana Dispensary
States that draw a distinction between marijuana dispensaries and medical cannabis pharmacies classify dispensaries as retail outlets for recreational marijuana products. A customer visits a dispensary to buy marijuana in much the same way she would visit a liquor store to buy alcohol. A dispensary may have hundreds of products in its inventory, all of which are legally available to consenting adults.
Dispensaries are staffed by professionals known in the industry as ‘bud tenders’. These are trained personnel who understand the finer points of recreational marijuana. They can talk all day long about different strains, cannabinoid and terpene profiles, and the differences between marijuana and hemp.
The Medical Cannabis Pharmacy
Meanwhile, a medical cannabis pharmacy is a state-licensed retail outlet for medical cannabis products. In theory, medical-grade products are more potent and pure. They have undergone more stringent testing requirements in order to tightly control cannabinoid volume.
A combination of pharmacy technicians and state-licensed pharmacists staff medical cannabis pharmacies. As a general rule, the pharmacists have undergone specialized training to better understand cannabis therapeutics. But the cannabis pharmacist is still a pharmacist. He or she could just as easily get a job in a traditional pharmacy.
One notable difference with the medical cannabis pharmacy lies in access. In most states with medical cannabis programs, a customer cannot even walk into a pharmacy without a valid medical cannabis card. A card is essentially a state-issued license to purchase, possess, and consume medical cannabis products.
Pharmacies in Medical-Only States
The wild card in all of this are those states whose cannabis programs are exclusively medical in nature. Utah is one such state. It has only issued fifteen licenses to serve more than 83k medical cannabis patients. Zion Medicinal was the last pharmacy to be licensed. It serves patients in Cedar City and St. George.
I bring all of this up to explain that Utah is very particular about its terminology. It insists on retail outlets being referred to as medical cannabis pharmacies. Regulators do not want pharmacy operators using terms like ‘marijuana’ and ‘dispensary’. Their rationale is one of avoiding any reference to terms that could give state residents the wrong impression about Utah’s medical cannabis program.
Because Utah does not allow recreational consumption, one could argue that preferring ‘pharmacy’ over ‘dispensary’ is mere semantics. But in the eyes of regulators, the choice of terms makes it clear that Utah is not on board with recreational consumption.
In States With Both
Let us close this post with an obvious conundrum: states that offer both recreational marijuana and medical cannabis. In such states, is there really a need to distinguish between dispensaries and pharmacies? Is there even a need to continue medical programs? I have read studies indicating there isn’t. At any rate, now you know why the two terms are utilized. I will let you decide if the issue is semantics.
