Website for medical pot users closes after street name ban
Medical marijuana patients are heaping criticism on state consumer protection officials over the loss of a website providing valuable information about different strains of cannabis.
The Department of Consumer Protection counters by saying critics are spreading misinformation about what it does as a regulator.
The informational website, Terp Street, shut down after DCP said it ordered it to stop using street names for cannabis. The operator of the website has not been identified.
Patients who embrace medical marijuana for its ability to ease pain and other afflictions that may defy conventional medicine took to social media to criticize DCP. They’re holding the agency responsible for the loss of Terp Street.
A DCP spokeswoman said the business owners “were asked — and agreed — to remove the street names from their website. They then chose to take down the website entirely.”
DCP does not allow the use of street names such as “fruity pebbles,” “do-sidos” and “wedding cake” for medical products because officials cannot verify that the strain bought on the street is the same as the medicinal product purchased from a licensed and regulated dispensary.
“Additionally many of the names are inappropriate for medical products and in several cases would appeal to children or inappropriately encourage recreational use of medical products,” DCP spokeswoman Kaitlyn Krasselt said.
It cited a website listing numerous street names for cannabis products.
Patients should consult their doctors and pharmacists, Krasselt said. “If they’re not getting adequate information about what’s prescribed they should definitely let us know that. It’s a shame that they feel this website is the only place they’re getting their information.”
A comment posted on the social media site Reddit said shopping for medical marijuana can be frustrating. Patients need more than what’s provided for cannabis varieties and plant oils and may not call a pharmacist in search of each bit of information, it said.
“How are med users supposed to make educated and informed decisions?” the patient said.
Terp Street said on Instagram that DCP shut its website.
“It is unfortunate, but the DCP has concluded Terp Street must be taken down,” it said.
Its supporters repeated the accusation, insisting that Terp Street was “taken down” by the state, closing off a key source of information.
Another posting on Reddit said Terp Street “provided clarity to the otherwise obfuscated strain names that the state of Connecticut has decided to impose and allowed patients to make informed purchasing decisions as well as properly understand what they were ingesting.”
A comment posted accused the state of “bullying a small site.”
A Reddit posting said the dispensary managers of medical cannabis businesses Thames Valley Relief and Prime Wellness of Connecticut notified state officials about Terp Street. The posting advised patients to take their business elsewhere.
“First and foremost, the best way to show how much taking down Terp Street affects the medical cannabis patients of Connecticut is with our wallets,” it said.
Carl Tirella, general manager in Connecticut of Acreage Holdings, the parent company of Thames Valley Relief and Prime Wellness of Connecticut, said two employees contacted the agency two years ago, asking what cannabis brands and operators are allowed to share.
“We appreciate those in Connecticut who advocate for cannabis education as we ourselves are strong advocates for cannabis accessibility, affordability and education,” he said in an emailed statement. “We believe — and it is always our intent — in providing as much medicinal cannabis information as possible with patients in Connecticut.”
Medical marijuana has been legal in the state since 2012. After several failed efforts, the General Assembly and Gov. Ned Lamont agreed this year on legislation legalizing recreational marijuana. The legislature will appoint a social equity council that will oversee the program and establish rules.