Delivery services for marijuana dispensaries are gaining traction as lucrative business opportunities. More than $2.5 billion worth of cannabis goods were sold by shops in California, the country with the largest legal cannabis market.

Retailers in Colorado sold more than $1.5 billion worth of goods in that same year, followed by those in Washington ($1 billion) and Oregon ($600 million).

Already a significant portion of the commerce for dispensaries was home delivery. According to one expert, up to 55% of medicinal marijuana transactions in California were deliveries. When the COVID-19 epidemic struck, its significance increased. One delivery company informed the New York Times that after California imposed quarantine orders in March, its sales soared by 500%.

Cannabis distribution is undoubtedly profitable, but it is also difficult. Let’s look at several difficulties specific to cannabis delivery from dispensaries Dispensaries in Ottawa cannabis store.

Cannabis remains forbidden at the federal level.

The main issue is that cannabis is still listed by the federal government as a Schedule 1 drug. Federal statutes state that it has a significant potential for abuse and no therapeutic value.

The executive branch’s agenda heavily influences how the federal government is enforced. An anti-cannabis president would order law enforcement to be more aggressive in making arrests and bringing charges.

The division between federal and state laws engenders a number of difficulties, further complicating the task of developing a new industry.

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State and local regulations are muddled

Cannabis is a brand-new sector, not just one operating in a murky legal space. Inconsistencies in state and local regulations have resulted from this combination. No state or locality would decriminalize or legalize marijuana even if the federal government abolished the Schedule 1 designation tomorrow.

Once more, let’s consider California, where 58 counties and nearly 500 cities have their own laws.

Cannabis business operations are prohibited in some jurisdictions. Others might only permit firms with storefronts to deliver. Others might restrict local license holders to receiving delivery permits.

All of them stand in the way of cannabis distribution being successful. They also affect consumers by reducing their options.

Dependence on Personal Vehicles for Delivery to Dispensaries

One key similarity exists between cannabis and food delivery services: both rely heavily on drivers’ personal automobiles. This makes it challenging to put tracking systems in place.

It is challenging to overcome the practicalities of deploying technology that would be simple to install and remove at the start and conclusion of each shift. Even if the telematics sector succeeds in overcoming that obstacle, tracking the goods and money—which are much more valuable than anything Grub Hub or Uber Eats deliver—remains a challenge.

Telematics will make it possible to track goods and money in a way that complies with cannabis laws. However, management won’t have access to current information for preventive maintenance without tracking the vehicles.

However, if they own vehicles, growers and labs might be able to exploit these features.

Finding the Compliance Formula

Every state that has decriminalized or legalized cannabis has a regulatory body in place. The rules for acquiring a retail cannabis license are kept up to date by these organizations.

Delivery from cannabis dispensaries can lead to theft, fraud, and a host of other issues. Every stage of a delivery’s route, from the time it is prepared to leave the dispensary until it is placed in the customer’s hands, is outlined under state rules.

Licensees are still ultimately responsible for following the rules. That’s not always simple, especially if they use manual processes rather than technological advancements. Better-run businesses go out of their way to avoid fines or having their licenses revoked, despite the fact that some rogue licensees may be negligent on compliance.

For this expanding market, a plug-and-play compliance solution is essential.