The New Essential? Five Important Ways COVID-19 is Changing Legal Cannabis
In towns and cities nationwide, Americans are following government orders to Stay at Home. In order to stem the exponential growth of COVID-19 (the illness caused by the novel coronavirus) many governors, mayors, and school superintendents all over the world have closed down school systems, concerts and community events, sports practices and competitions, and any “non-essential” places of business.
We are all hoping these drastic social distancing actions will help flatten the curve by limiting close human contact. But how are these precautions affecting cannabis users and purveyors?
Essential Businesses
Here in Colorado, where cannabis is legal both medically and recreationally, a minor panic ensued on March 26th when Governor Polis issued his “stay-at-home” order. Lines began to form around liquor stores and dispensaries, as his original order did not include wine and spirit shops or recreational marijuana dispensaries as essential businesses. He quickly amended the order to include both of these “necessities.”
Essential businesses in Colorado include:¹
Healthcare operations such as hospitals, pharmacies, and nursing homes
Critical infrastructure including utilities, roads, and natural resources
Critical manufacturing such as food, paper products, and pharmaceuticals
Critical retail including grocery stores, restaurants (to-go only), gas stations, and marijuana dispensaries
Critical services such as trash, mail, and funeral homes
News media
Financial institutions
Homeless shelters and food banks
Construction
Defense
Medical vs Recreational
Colorado is one of only eight states nationwide which has included recreational marijuana as an essential item. Other states that are under “stay-at-home” orders but can still access recreational cannabis are Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, California, Illinois, and Michigan.²
I can see both sides of this argument. On one hand, I guess if you don’t need cannabis for an underlying medical condition, then it’s not truly a necessity.
However, if liquor stores are staying open, then heck yes, recreational dispensaries should be too! Using cannabis to cope is a much healthier habit than drinking.
Also, there are many people (myself included) who do use cannabis for chronic pain or other medical issues and have just never filed for their medical card because they live in a recreational state and have never had to before. For this reason, I personally am very glad that recreational dispensaries are able to stay open.
Pickup and Delivery
Although they are allowed to conduct sales, essential businesses like dispensaries are needing to adapt the way they do business in order to adhere to the strict social distancing guidelines that are in place.³
Theoretically, only curbside pickup is allowed in Colorado– but because cash transactions in the parking lot aren’t the safest plan, dispensaries are allowing entry in order to pick up your necessities. But it is recommended or required that you make your order online ahead of time. This is easily done via Leafly.
Currently, cannabis can be delivered to your home in Colorado– but only if you’re a medical patient receiving your order directly from the dispensary or your caregiver. Delivery of retail cannabis won’t be allowed until January of 2021.⁴
I have visited my dispensary once since the Colorado Stay at Home order has gone into effect, and it was very easy. I ordered my products ahead of time via Leafly. The dispensary texted me a couple of follow-up questions, and then texted me when my order was ready (five minutes later). When I drove over to pick it up, I waited in the car until the person ahead of me was out of the vestibule inside, as a sign on their door requested. When it was my turn, I entered, gave them my name, paid in cash, and was on my way.
One concern about this setup is the fact that cash transactions are still required for dispensaries, due to federal banking regulations. This prohibits the “no-contact” transactions that many businesses are striving for these days.
Legalize Nationwide!
Due to social distancing guidelines and “no-contact” transaction recommendations, many companies are heading toward allowing online-only orders and no-contact deliveries.
However, because of the varying state-by-state regulations of the cannabis industry, this is simply not possible for businesses that sell cannabis products. The only cannabis-related business that can possibly be conducted purely online is the sale of hemp-based CBD products, since hemp is legal nationwide. Any products containing THC must be sold only in dispensaries.
Some people have been talking about what a positive difference the nationwide legalization of cannabis could make right now– it would boost not only the cannabis industry, but the United States economy as a whole.
Imagine it– If we were able to remove cannabis as a Schedule 1 substance, thus legalizing cannabis nationwide, we could, in one stroke of a pen, create billions in tax revenue and millions of essential jobs. We would also eliminate the need for exchanging dirty, germ-infested cash in person-to-person transactions as cannabis would be able to be bought and sold online.
In Jail for an Essential?
It’s important to add that any efforts for legalization, whether national or local, need to include justice and restitution for anyone that is in jail or maintains a criminal record for selling, purchasing, or possessing marijuana.
Can you imagine sitting in jail for the rest of your days for a marijuana offense and then finding out that dispensaries have been deemed essential businesses? It would be like serving life in prison for stocking the toilet paper aisle.
To add insult to injury, people in prison are even more at risk than the general population for contracting COVID-19, as social distancing measures are impossible in such close quarters. This could be a death sentence for those who are trapped together with no way to stem the spread of the virus.
The Last Prisoner Project advocates for all those that continue to be denied their freedom due to past cannabis offenses. As they proclaim on their website, we must “RELEASE ALL CANNABIS PRISONERS.” To add your name to the petition to demand protection for cannabis prisoners and other non-violent offenders from the Coronavirus, click here.
Now more than ever, we must fight for the expungement of any criminal record for prior cannabis offenses. Because recreational cannabis is not just legal, but essential!
✌💗🌿, E
1. https://wp-cpr.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/03/Amended-Public-Health-Order-Authorized-Business-.pdf
3. https://drive.google.com/file/d/143epybzBiHjTmVdsEeOICK3rFfU4lTbt/view
