The Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules on June 26 approved a four‑rule package submitted by the Cannabis Control Board that updates licensing, operational, medical and enforcement rules for Vermont’s regulated cannabis market.

Dave Gellman, general counsel to the Cannabis Control Board, briefed the committee on substantive changes across the set. “We have a set of 4 closely related rules that are really our entire body of administrative rules,” Gellman said, noting that the adult‑use market opened in October 2022 and the board is updating the rules to reflect industry experience and statutory changes.

Major changes summarized by the board include:
- Licensing and governance: a new definition for governing documents; a mechanism to require licensees to move into an appropriate canopy tier if they are not using their licensed canopy; dormant applications may be dismissed after 90 days; and revisions to renewals, amendments and prequalification processes to reduce duplication.
- Banking/insurance and security: technical updates reflecting greater market access to banking and insurance; flexibility for cultivators (especially remote/outdoor growers) on security measures.
- Market structure and medical access: a medical‑use endorsement allowing qualifying adult‑use establishments to serve medical patients under training and audit requirements; a deferral of a comprehensive retail siting rule while a municipal‑centered approach is redeveloped; a relocation rule for retailers that does not permit moves that increase local concentration.
- Operational and consumer protections: clarified background‑check procedures and appeal rights; standardized transport manifests; anti‑consignment provisions requiring retailers to take legal ownership of product they sell; packaging, potency and labeling changes; and a remediation pathway for fungus or pesticide adulteration that includes limits on reselling remediated flower.
- Reporting, testing and technology: required real‑time point‑of‑sale reporting via API for most POS systems and clarified testing/registration parity between medical and adult‑use products.

Gellman said the board received extensive public input and made multiple amendments between the proposed and final texts; he also noted two technical cross‑reference corrections that were raised on the record and included in the committee materials.

Why it matters: The package changes licensing, market oversight and product rules that affect cultivators, manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers across Vermont. Notably, enabling medical patients to be served by adult‑use retailers with a medical endorsement aims to preserve medical access while introducing training and audit requirements to prevent tax evasion or illicit diversion.

Committee action: Committee members asked clarifying questions about statutory sync and cross references. Representative John Sakowitz moved approval of Rule 1 (licensing); other motions to approve Rules 2–4 were made and each rule was approved by voice vote. The approved texts incorporate memoranda submitted June 25, 2025, and include the small cross‑reference corrections noted on the record.