Jesse Mondry
The OLCC rulemaking course of continues after a public listening to on October 25 and the shut of the general public remark interval on October 31. You may learn our prior protection here, here and here, and you may learn the proposed guidelines here. The general public listening to lasted about 35 minutes and a sizzling matter was whether or not retailers could proceed to ship medical and leisure marijuana to prospects and sufferers via a drive-up window or whether or not the OLCC will kill drive-thru supply.
Right here’s the historical past. OAR-025-1300(g) prohibits licensees from promoting marijuana gadgets via a drive-up or walk-up window. However in December 2021 the COVID-19 pandemic triggered the OLCC to undertake temporary rules that permitted delivering marijuana gadgets to an individual within the car parking zone of the shop, an individual on the entrance entrance of the shop, or an individual at a walk-up or drive-thru window of the shop. So for practically two years, retailers, sufferers, and prospects have turn into accustomed to having the choice of utilizing a drive-thru to ship marijuana (the place not in any other case prohibited by a neighborhood ordinance).
Now that the pandemic seems to be winding down, the OLCC seems poised to reinstate the previous rule, partially, by forbidding drive-thru supply and permitting walk-up window supply. Right here’s what the brand new rule could say: A license could not promote any marijuana merchandise via a drive-up or walk-up window. Proposed OAR 845-025-1300.
On the identical time, the OLCC seems prepared to permit supply to individuals who’re on-site however outdoors of the shop, such because the car parking zone or entrance entrance, inside 150 ft of the boundary of the retail licensee’s licensed premises. Proposed OAR 845-025-2885.
Quite a few commenters identified the inconsistency of those proposed guidelines. To summarize in plain language what could occur: the OLCC will allow you to purchase weed at a walk-up window; the OLCC will allow you to purchase weed within the car parking zone of the dispensary; however the OLCC wouldn’t allow you to purchase weed at a drive-thru window.
Commenters on the listening to levied two precept considerations. The primary was accessibility. The rule negatively impacts individuals with mobility points and those that are immunocompromised. I suppose one rejoinder to this concern is one thing like, “effectively these individuals could wait of their automobile and have marijuana gadgets delivered to them within the car parking zone.” However that potential rejoinder leads on to the second concern: security. Quite a few individuals testified {that a} drive-thru is safer for patrons and dispensary staff than having prospects wait in parking heaps cash-in-hand for a dispensary staff to wander out with marijuana, trying to find a selected automobile. The protection concern makes a variety of sense given the variety of robberies occurring at dispensaries. One commenter identified that securing a drive-thru is way simpler than a complete car parking zone.
A business landlord in Portland testified that from its perspective a delegated drive-thru is far more fascinating than having marijuana delivered at random areas all through the car parking zone of a property. Significantly, when different companies could use the car parking zone. This individual additionally testified drive-thru is just higher for the neighborhood than having marijuana offered to parked vehicles sitting in quite a bit. (Is smart!) This landlord additionally leases business property to Fred Meyer, which supplies prescription medication via a drive-thru, and testified that offering medical marijuana isn’t any completely different from its perspective.
Accessibility and security are keys to a profitable Oregon marijuana trade. These type of on-the-ground common sense views are a key cause why the OLCC holds public hearings on proposed guidelines and accepts written feedback. Let’s hope the OLCC takes these considerations to coronary heart and makes drive-thru supply of marijuana gadgets a everlasting, permissible supply technique and doesn’t kill drive-thru supply.
A giant thanks to everybody who participated within the OLCC’s listening to.
