California Recreational Marijuana Delivery Services: Rules, Regulations, & How to Get it
With more people staying home these days, California's recreational marijuana program is in full effect. Recreational users can legally purchase marijuana, especially from marijuana delivery services.
Yes, there are marijuana delivery services, and this market is booming in California. There's no need to venture out to a dispensary because they can just place an order online and receive the product straight to their door. Who wouldn't want to take advantage of this opportunity? We're making it easy for you. You can find a list of all California delivery services at www.leafbuyer.com or on the Leafbuyer app.
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Why Marijuana Delivery Services Are Booming
With the Coronavirus pandemic, people in California were forced to stay home. Cannabis was deemed an essential service in many states, so people turned to delivery services and order ahead as well pick up options. Find a list here or order ahead locations. www.leafbuyer.com/app
Delivery services are legal in many states, but some states, services are operating illegally. Here is a list of state by state guide to legal delivery services. https://www.leafbuyer.com/blog/state-by-state-guide-to-marijuana-delivery-services/
Also, in recent years, retail marijuana dispensaries were slowly phased out in California, especially Los Angeles dispensaries, which kept getting shut down. Due to extensive dispensary zoning requirements, complaints from neighboring communities, and the risk of getting robbed, lots of marijuana businesses have transitioned into a different direction: marijuana delivery services.
Instead of customers venturing out to dispensary storefronts, they can just order their desired products online and wait for a delivery driver to bring it to their home. Small marijuana start-ups have thrived off the diverse customer base that's being served. This customer base consists of homebound medical cardholders, people living within communities that ban dispensaries, and people living in areas where there aren't nearby dispensaries.
In general, lots of medical marijuana consumers, entrepreneurs, and dispensary owners moved towards implementing mobile marijuana collective businesses to provide medical consumers with safe access to their product.
What to Expect from a Legal Marijuana Delivery Business
According to Cannabis.ca.gov, a "RETAILER (NON-STOREFRONT): Sells cannabis goods to customers exclusively through delivery. A retailer non-storefront must have a licensed premises to store the cannabis goods for delivery. The premises of a non-storefront retailer shall not be open to the public."
The recent rules include delivery hours between 6:00am to 10:00pm. Cannabis goods must come from a licensed distributor, the product must follow all the packaging rules. The person receiving the delivery must provide a valid ID, 21-years or older for adult cannabis goods and 18-years or older for medical marijuana.
When delivery first started, according to an LA Cannabis Law Group article about mobile marijuana services, "Delivery services can be legal under California state law and can be operated with the same legal protections that are afforded to qualified cardholders, who collectively cultivate medical marijuana."
The next steps involve incorporating the business as a nonprofit mutual benefit corporation under California's state laws. By doing this paperwork, you open up the possibilities of legally operating a mobile medical marijuana collective, delivery service, or storefront location.
There have been many changes since the laws were first adopted in California, so each delivery service must comply with the most recent rules. You can read more about the rules here: https://cannabis.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2019/02/BCC_Retailer_Non-Storefront_Fact_Sheet_v3.pdf
California’s Attempt at Controlling Marijuana Delivery Services
Moreover, California lawmakers, have been working to draft rules and restrictions for marijuana delivery businesses so they can shut them down. Despite the rules, in the past there have been reports of hundreds of medical marijuana mobile delivery services, which operated in an unregulated sector within the marijuana economy. It is best to look for a licensed delivery service.
Past California Legislative Moves
California's governor, Jerry Brown, worked to create legislation to tax, license, and govern California's medical marijuana industry in the beginning of legalization of recreational marijuana in California. The goal of this legislation was to track marijuana transactions while diminishing black market sales. However, this legislation failed to factor in marijuana delivery businesses. Since then, the government has worked to change the rules several times and continue to monitor the process within the industry.
Marijuana Delivery Services’ Purchasing Limits & Requirements
There are different requirements that must be met to place orders for marijuana deliveries, which include living in a state where medical marijuana is legal. Also, you'll need a prescription and doctor's note explaining why you qualify for medical marijuana. Additionally, you may need to register as a member of the marijuana delivery business you choose to use, which then requires you to provide a copy of a doctor's note and a photo ID.
Lastly, if you're a medical marijuana cardholder, you'll still have to abide by California's possession limits. According to Proposition 64, adults can legally possess/carry as much as one ounce of flower/bud or eight grams of concentrates like oil, hash, or dabs. Here's a list of possession limits in other states.
With the threat of Coronavirus, marijuana delivery services have exploded. But in many other states, delivery services are operating illegally.
Thus, it's safe to say that when recreational marijuana delivery services start operating, that figure will significantly increase while bringing in new customers and more revenue. California is being viewed as a model for other U.S. states to learn from regarding medical and recreational marijuana delivery services.
