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Four of the nine operational medical cannabis companies in New Jersey could soon begin delivering marijuana to patients, finally heeding the calls of patients to ease access to their medicine.
The four companies confirmed to NJ Cannabis Insider that they are seriously developing plans or awaiting approval of their delivery plans from the state Department of Health, which late last month enacted a waiver that allows for the delivery of medical cannabis.
Home delivery became possible with the passage of Jake Honig’s Law last summer, which expanded access and upped marijuana purchase limits for patients. As some immunocompromised patients worried about waiting in lines at dispensaries during the coronavirus outbreak, pushes for delivery got new life.
While the waiver marks a step forward, it will take time before delivery can become a quick and convenient solution, both due to the lack of dispensaries in the state and potential kinks in the system.
But Rise Paterson filed its delivery plan with the health department Monday, said Devra Karlebach, the CEO of GTI New Jersey.
She declined to elaborate on the proposal’s specifics before its approval by the health department, but said the planning process allowed the alternative treatment center to have “a lot of autonomy.”
“We are, as a group, allowed to deliver anywhere in the state that you have a registered patient,” she said. “A lot of it will depend on the demand as well.”
If the department gives a speedy approval, Karlebach said, Rise could be delivering by the end of the month.
David Spreckman, a spokesman for Verano Holdings, which operates newly opened Zen Leaf Elizabeth, said the company plans “to launch delivery service shortly, pending state approval.”
And a Curaleaf spokeswoman said the company has “been hard at work developing a thoughtful and safe plan that will best serve our patients and protect our team members,” and is working with the health department to receive approval.
Harmony Dispensary of Secaucus, too, wants to offer delivery.
“Implementing home delivery is our top priority and we look forward to serving our patients once we have State approval,” Shaya Brodchandel, Harmony’s CEO, said in a statement.
But not all of the dispensary are as eager.
Brian Sickora, the New Jersey manager of Acreage Holdings, which recently acquired Compassionate Care Foundation, said the company is not immediately pursuing home delivery, but will re-evaluate later this summer. Compassionate Care Foundation has dispensaries in Atlantic City and Egg Harbor Township.
Breakwater Treatment & Wellness in Cranbury said the same.
“We do not have immediate plans to implement delivery as we are still assessing the viability of such a program,” said James Froehlich, the chief of staff, said. “Our current focus is on continuing to cultivate enough medicine to meet the needs of the growing patient population in New Jersey and hope to have announcements soon regarding satellite locations which will provide greater patient access.”
A spokesman for Columbia Care in Vineland, which already has delivery at dispensaries in other states, said the center plans to launch the service, but is still talking with regulators and did not have additional details to share.
Garden State Dispensary and Greenleaf Compassion Center did not respond to requests for comment about their delivery plans.
When California enacted its stay-at-home order in March, weed deliveries skyrocketed. But the state already had a robust delivery system, in which numerous services contract with dispensaries. One, Driven Deliveries, previously told NJ Cannabis Insider the average delivery takes just 26 minutes, but they guarantee arrival in 90 minutes or less. While California has more than four times the population of New Jersey, it boasts hundreds more dispensaries.
The Garden State has just 11 operational dispensaries, with three more expected to open this year. While the health department sought to license as many as 24 new marijuana businesses and put out a call for licensees last year, a lawsuit over the review of applicants has put the process on hold.
And home delivery has complications. Marijuana is a cash-only business, and delivery can bring security risks for drivers. All vehicles for delivery must have GPS tracking and a secure lock box, according to the health department waiver.
For now, New Jersey dispensaries will have to deploy their own employees on the routes. And with just a few covering a state with nearly 80,000 patients across more than 8,000 square miles, an average delivery time of 26 minutes seems a stretch. (Think: services like UberEats and Postmates contracting drivers to pick up and deliver food from various restaurants, versus the traditional pizza driver only going from their restaurant to homes.)
And of the four dispensaries moving ahead with delivery now, three are in North Jersey. Only Curaleaf, in Bellmawr near Philadelphia, is convenient to any part of South Jersey, and is still more than an hour away from the state’s southern most points in Cape May County.
This story first appeared in NJ Cannabis Insider.
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Amanda Hoover may be reached at ahoover@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandahoovernj.