A new emergency rule in Washington D.C. has gone into effect this week from the D.C. Department of Health.
The rule allows D.C.’s seven medical marijuana dispensaries to now deliver to patients and offer curbside and at-the-door pickup.
“It’s definitely a step in the right direction,” remarked Norbert Pickett, owner of Deanwood dispensary Cannabliss to DCist. “It’s good that we’re doing this now, but it should have been done a long time ago.”
D.C.’s medical marijuana program currently has 6,309 registered patients and normally requires people to visit dispensaries in person to purchase marijuana, with very few exceptions.
It was on March 24th that Mayor Muriel Bowser had ordered the closing of all nonessential establishments but medical marijuana dispensaries were considered essential.
Dispensary owners called on D.C. Health to modify the medical marijuana program during the lock down.
“This patient-centric, emergency rulemaking is necessary to protect the health, safety, and welfare of District residents, and is similar to what other states are putting in place to continue access to medical marijuana,” the city said in a press release.
According to a DCist report, “the new rule allows the city’s dispensaries to deliver or provide pickup to D.C. patients who have a medical card issued by D.C. Health. Dispensaries can only use one car for these deliveries, and the vehicle must be registered with the health department, have a functioning GPS, and not be adorned with decorations, images, or advertisements associated with marijuana. Deliveries must also occur between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m., and the delivery person must be a registered employee of the dispensary.”
