this post was submitted on 17 Dec 2023
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Federal drug officials are warning Georgia to shelve its plans to be the first state to allow pharmacies to dispense medical marijuana products.

News outlets report that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration on Nov. 27 warned pharmacies that dispensing medical marijuana violates federal law.

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 9 months ago (4 children)

Fine, who would want Walgreens, Walmart and CVS to be where you get your weed? I would rather buy it at independent stores both for atmosphere and that large pharmacies are shitty companies in every way possible.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Because it's a prescription medication, just like any other. It's far more convenient to pick up prescription just like you do any other.

There will be far fewer dispensaries than pharmacies, so less choice, more driving, and worse hours.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Dispensaries vastly outnumber pharmacies in the towns I’ve lived in (Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico) and also have more convenient hours (Denver they’re 8 am - 10 pm). I also have doubts about the varieties they’d stock and the quality. Being prescribed cannabis in most states means you shop at regular stores and get a discount, or in non-rec states that you can go there at all - and they tend to have a tremendous variety. It’s not like being prescribed a pharmaceutical that comes in one brand and a generic pill like most prescriptions.

I’d also much rather talk to someone who understands cannabis and cannabinoids topics - RSO, CBD, edibles, dabbing and so forth - than a pharmacist. I would anticipate a pharmacy giving much worse overall service than a dispensary.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Canada legalized years ago and there are dispensaries all over the place in cities! If you're in living in rural areas obviously there's not as many, but still one or two within reasonable distance.

Remote areas have their stuff mailed in.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Right. Where I lived in Denver, there were 4 dispensaries in wakking distance and 1 pharmacy, Walgreens.

The only exceptions are the small conservative towns that banned dispensaries in their city limits or counties saying “we don’t want DRUGS in our city!!” So the stores set up just outside of city limits and the cities have just as much weed and no tax revenue.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 9 months ago

If you’re talking about the Springs, the whole county has banned recreational. Manitou is able to have them because it’s a home-rule city.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

I agree with the other commenter here. I could see this going the other way for smaller towns or more rural areas, but where I am at right now there are 4 dispensaries and 2 pharmacies in a 5 mile radius.

It's also Sunday; one of those pharmacies is closed and the other one will close at 12 in the afternoon. As for the dispensaries, one of them will close at 5 and the others will close at 10 ~no different than any other day of the week.

Getting rid of dispensaries in favor of pharmacies here would benefit nobody except for the drug companies.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

The nearest pharmacy is two miles away. The neareat dispensary is a half mile away. The 2nd nearest is across the street from that one.

There are more dispensaries than there are pharmacies, bars, and churches in my state.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

If weed is one of your prescriptions and for one of many reasons it's hard to be out in public, being able to get it all in one place would be great.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

It would be cool if it was an option, but not the only option. A lot of states have home delivery now too.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

I can already see it (again): an employee of Walgreens that is not a pharmacy employee gets tasked to help the pharmacy during a busy period. They are put at the counter to grab and distribute customers' ready prescriptions. A customer comes up to the counter to pick up their prescription of marijuana, the employee sees the prescribed drug, and promptly refuses to give the customer their prescription. It's already happened in southern states with birth control, it feel confident it would happen in this scenario, too.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I see you've never taken prescription drugs for an extended period of time.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Not sure why you’d think that. I have type 1 diabetes, so without prescription drugs I would be dead in 3-4 days.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

So you'd rather make a special trip to a dispensary to enjoy the atmosphere than just pick up cannabis products with your insulin?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

Yes, I think I already described why. For one, the pharmacies where I live are understaffed and complete crap... I have to pick up prescriptions for my parents and often am waiting at Walgereens in line for 45 minutes.

Then, unless they had a large selection like how Walgreens has full liquor stores, the experience and pricing would be far inferior to shopping at a regular weed store. It's not 'the atmosphere', and I don't like the atmosphere of 60% of dispensaries (though I mean seriously, it's better than CVS?) it's the selection, service and so on. Would Walgreens let you look at and smell a dozen different varieties of weed? Open each jar of concentrate and let you smell and look at it before purchase? Have loyalty clubs with discounts? Have a menu with 50 different things on it? Probably not.

So I think it should be an option but not the only way to do it. And of course I recognize that Georgia doesn't have a 'real' medical or rec cannabis program. I don't think some of the people giving opinions here have ever lived in a state that does. I have lived in 3 different states with good programs for 15 years.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

Those who oppose rapid legalization of marijuana said the DEA’s stance will protect consumers and allow time for more research.

Rapid? US legalization started like 28 years ago. Nothing about the process has been rapid.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 9 months ago

Biden priorities