Business Trends GENERAL ASSEMBLY


Tamara Netzel uses medical cannabis oils and topical creams.


Dispensing relief A


Virginia enters fast-growing medical cannabis oil market by Michael O’Connor


fter traditional medicine damaged and nearly ruined her liver, Tamara


Netzel, tries to manage her multiple sclerosis symptoms with medical cannabis oils and topical creams. Netzel, a retired teacher in Alexandria, has chronic pain and tremors that cause blurred vision. “It calms all that down,” Netzel explains. “It’s not like totally gone. It changes it to a more pleasant feeling.” Netzel has been u sing the


oils and creams for more than a year. She places medical cannabis


28 | JANUARY 2019


oil drops under her tongue each morning and night; sometimes more often depending on what the day is like. Netzel won’t say where she buys cannabis oil because of the legal ambiguities around the products. But access to these products


is changing in Virginia. Later this year, state-regulated medical can- nabis oils are slated to go on sale in the commonwealth. (Incidentally, unregulated products advertised as cannabis oils already are on store shelves in Virginia.) The state-regulated oils are


arriving after a competitive process that saw 51 companies each pay a $10,000 application fee to get the first crack at Virginia’s entry into the fast-growing medical cannabis oil market. The national market is expected to grow 700 percent by 2020 to $2.1 billion, according to The Hemp Business Journal. The Virginia Board of Phar-


macy awarded conditional licenses to five companies to produce and sell the oils. There will be one company operating in each of Virginia’s health service areas, but they’ll be able to sell to patients


Photo by Stephen Gosling


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