Could curbside marijuana pickup continue after the coronavirus pandemic ends?

When the coronavirus pandemic hit, marijuana dispensaries in Michigan were deemed an essential industry and switched to curbside delivery to continue to serve customers while adhering to social distancing guidelines.

Could this new convenience continue after the pandemic ends?

David Harns, a spokesman for Michigan's Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, says curbside weed delivery is not permitted under the current non-emergency rules, so new rules would have to be drafted and passed.

According to Westword, officials are considering keeping curbside delivery in Colorado, and are looking into whether it can remain without a regulatory update.

"We understand our stakeholders' interest in maintaining a range of options they can utilize to serve their customers consistent with social-distancing guidelines," Shannon Gray, the communications director for the state's Marijuana Enforcement Division regulatory agency, told the paper. "On that front, we are currently evaluating which rule provisions we have the ability to implement on a longer-term basis."

Gray said the agency is using this period to "reflect on what worked well and what didn't" during the pandemic.

Colorado became one of the first states to legalize recreational marijuana in 2012.

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