🔒Pharmacy commissioner-turned-pot-dispensary CEO bullish on industry growth

Patient safety has always been a top priority for longtime pharmacist Richard Carbray.

That’s why the 67-year-old — one of five members on the state’s Commission of Pharmacy — has stepped in as a prominent CEO within Connecticut’s medical marijuana industry.

Carbray, appointed to the commission eight years ago by former Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, leads two of the state’s 15 medical marijuana dispensaries, giving him a strong foothold in the budding industry.

He entered the pot business last year after more than three decades managing two retail pharmacies, which he sold in 2015. Carbray in recent years said he had been recruited by several investors looking to apply for dispensary licenses with the state Department of Consumer Protection.

Ultimately he chose to accept a position as CEO of Fine Fettle Dispensary, which launched medical marijuana retail sites in the Willimantic section of Windham in June, and Newington in September.

Carbray, who also recently completed two terms on UConn’s board of trustees, is one of numerous Connecticut pharmacists who have entered the medical marijuana industry. Angelo DeFazio, another pharmacist on the state’s pharmacy commission — which meets monthly overseeing industry practices — also owns a pair of Connecticut dispensaries, including a Hartford location.

Carbray has been recruiting other pharmacists to join Fine Fettle. Many, he said, have been enthusiastic about the possibility of changing practice areas, especially as the typical pharmacist’s role undergoes major shifts, he said.

“The profession is changing drastically as there are a lot more pressures on pharmacists to push prescriptions, do vaccines, and they are not able to spend time with patients, even though that’s what they were trained to do,” the Rocky Hill resident said.

“Connecticut probably has the best medical marijuana program in the country because it’s pharmacist-driven,” Carbray continued. “We have pharmacists who are accustomed to being in pharmacies with controlled drugs, narcotics, security, record keeping and worrying about diversion. This is the same type of thing, except we have one drug with 300 varieties.”

[Read more: As CT’s medical marijuana industry grows, finding, training workers creates challenges, opportunities]

Carbray still does some pharmacy consulting work, but his main focus is on maintaining a high level of patient care at Fine Fettle with a team of pharmacists heavily involved in treating people suffering from a variety of diseases and ailments.

That effort is still a challenge as marijuana remains illegal on the federal level, making it nearly impossible for researchers to obtain funding to study how cannabis could best serve patients in the 33 states that have legalized it for medicinal purposes.

More than 37,400 residents now qualify for Connecticut’s medical marijuana program, which has 36 approved conditions for adults and 10 for patients under age 18.

“I want to be involved in a product that can help people, and I want to ensure people are going to be safe taking it,” said Carbray, who has never used marijuana himself. “I will use my expertise as a pharmacist, as a commissioner, to make sure we are doing all the right things compliance-wise, and help build a team.”

Although Carbray doesn’t see recreational marijuana being legalized in 2020 (because it’s an election year), he still predicts major growth opportunities for Fine Fettle in Connecticut, in addition to Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

“For us, we want our medicinal program to get a strong base before adult [recreational] use comes in,” he said.

Both of Fine Fettle’s facilities, employing four full-time pharmacists and a handful of part-time staffers, are equipped to handle the potential influx of customers if and when recreational marijuana is legalized, Carbray said. And he hopes Fine Fettle’s current industry presence will give it a leg up with regulators to handle both medicinal and recreational retail sales in the future.

Moreover, Fine Fettle, he said, would even like to get into the growing business.

“One of our goals is vertical integration,” Carbray said. “We are poised and ready to apply if Connecticut is willing to open it up. We are not different than most out there — we are trying to grow this business either on the growing or dispensary side.”