Medical Marijuana in MD & COVID-19

Medical Marijuana in MD & COVID-19: Making Positive Changes

Sales of medical marijuana in MD have been skyrocketing since the pandemic began in February 2020. Few industries during the COVID-19 Pandemic have seen the success and positive changes as medical cannabis. 2020 brought the rise of the once outlawed natural treatment to become an essential business. 

Now, Maryland has classified medical cannabis workers with other healthcare employees, proving its legitimacy and dispelling any remaining stigma. It also means dispensary workers are first in line for receiving the vaccine, along with other frontline employees.

Medical Cannabis is an Essential Business

There have been very few positives during the past year. Nearly 7,000 Maryland residents have died from complications to COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. But medical cannabis advocates are celebrating the change of status in the valid treatment with the essential business status. 

What might seem like a small victory compared to the heartaches of 2020, but the potent, all-natural plant-based medicine saves lives and improves the quality of life for thousands of patients throughout Maryland. 

This state designation is helping smash the stigma of medical marijuana in MD and across the country. It’s also showing people that it’s a safe industry. Over the past year, more people have been using legal cannabis to help deal with extreme anxiety and depression from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

How Safe is Cannabis During the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Medical Marijuana dispensaries in Maryland have taken the pandemic very seriously. Businesses have limited in-person sales, increased cleaning, social-distancing, and mandated masks for employees and patients. Cannabis sales have always been careful with the flowers and products. 

Marijuana buds are delicate and need to be handled with gloves and carefully to prevent loss of cannabinoids and terpenes. Tongs have always been used. During the pandemic, many other rules have been instituted at dispensaries, both by the businesses and through state regulations, including:

  • Suspended point-of-sale signature requirements by patients
  • No more deli-style sales or sniff jars
  • On-site delivery (Parking lot)
  • Order-ahead sales to reduce storefront traffic

Reducing Vaccine Fears with Medical Marijuana in MD

The industry that faced a ton of stigma over the past 80-plus years is helping reduce vaccine fears, too. Medical cannabis employees getting the vaccine encourage other frontline workers and other eligible patients to get past the fear of what many say is a rushed vaccine. 

However, there has been an enormous effort from scientists and medical professionals worldwide working day and night on a safe and effective vaccine. So, yes, while previous vaccinations have taken years and even decades to develop, the common goal of the international medical community have made this enormous undertaking possible.

An activist group, D.C. Marijuana Justice, is giving away cannabis at vaccination centers to increase the number of vaccinated people, which in turn, gets us one step closer to herd immunity. The organization’s co-founder, Adam Eidinger, explains,

“If you believe in the science that supports medical cannabis, you should believe the science that supports the efficacy of the vaccine.”

Medical marijuana in MD and around the country is making positive changes in healthcare. The growing industry is helping improve safety during the COVID-19 pandemic and reduce vaccination fears. Thank you for assisting us with ending stigma and improving lives.

Feel and perform your best every day. Physician developed with a step-by-step usage guide.

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