September 10, 2010 
I’ve wondered about this for a while as marijuana (cannabis) has become decriminalized in several states (see history). It’s a drug, and it requires a prescription. Isn’t that what pharmacies are for?
Maybe, I’m missing something here, but why create a new set of organizations (dispensaries). There is obviously a business model here and given the challenges for growth in the retail pharmacy industry this would seem like something (from a purely economic view) that they would want to capture.
On the flipside, what this implies to me is that the establishment doesn’t yet buy-in to the legalization strategy. They still see this as a criminal activity and don’t want to (a) create a business risk or (b) damage their brand.
Enabling Healthy Decisions 
I am interested in what other pharmacist think about this. I cannot see a system of distribution of a controlled substance without pharmacists providing the medication and patient consultation.