ELLICOTT CITY, Md. — If you're a medical marijuana patient, you probably noticed a big increase in foot traffic at your local dispensary over the last month.
But maybe you also noticed an increase in price too.
"We've seen initial shock, it's a constant battle with our suppliers to achieve favorable acquisition pricing, which is something i think all retailers are dealing with right now," said Chase Lessman, senior sales director for Culta.
At Culta, which has three locations in maryland, prices went up anywhere from 10 percent to 25 percent depending on the vendor.
He says a lot of medical marijuana patients stocked up early to avoid the rush and the price hike that they anticipated would happen after it was legalized for adult use on July 1.
The same thing happened at Curio Wellness dispensaries throughout the state.
Both companies say prices had previously been driven down.
"I think that the evidence of the price increase is exacerbated by operators who were operating in the red, unsustainably, in the weeks leading up to the launch of adult-use," Lessman said.
"So the market for the 15-18 months preceding adult-use had been in a down cycle due to extenuating circumstances from the larger economy. We were also seeing a lot of product dumping an price compression from some of the players in this market. I think all of that pricing has stabilized and normalized with adult-use coming online," said Wendy Bronfein, the chief brand officer and director of public policy for Curio Wellness.
She says an easy way for new customers to save money is to get their medical marijuana card.
"Medical patients do not pay sales tax, so if you're buying with any frequency, it would be to your advantage, if you're getting that therapeutic relief, to migrate to being a patient."
You can also buy larger quantities of product, and dispensaries legally have to give priority to patients over adult-use customers.
The card itself - and the appointment with a licensed provider - both cost money. But bronfein says it's worth it in the long run if you plan to purchase cannabis often.
