Rite Aid pharmacy CEO not ruling out carrying marijuana products

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(A version of this story first appeared at Hemp Industry Daily.)

Marijuana could be coming to Rite Aid, a U.S. pharmacy chain with 2,500 stores in 17 U.S. states.

Rite Aid CEO Hayward Donigan said that “everyone is looking at the marijuana business.”

“There is complexity to that, but (we’re) certainly keeping an eye on it,” she said at The Wall Street Journal’s Future of Everything Festival.

The pharmacy chain, based in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, has carried hemp-derived cannabidiol products since 2019.

Donigan said Rite Aid is looking at more homeopathic options in addition to traditional pharmaceuticals. The chain also had all of its pharmacists recertified as integrative pharmacy specialists, she noted.

“Pharmacists are trained in alternative therapies. They are not just trained on traditional medicine,” Donigan said.

She declined to speculate on whether the chain would carry psychedelics.

“We are regulated, so we have to be careful that we follow all the regulations.”

Rite Aid trades as RAD on the New York Stock Exchange.