Arizona Will Allow Recreational Marijuana Deliveries To Start On Friday, Expanding Service Available Only To Medical Patients

Deliveries of legal adult-use marijuana will begin in Arizona on Friday, allowing adults 21 to purchase cannabis to be dropped off at their doorstep. Previously the service was available only to registered medical marijuana patients.

The policy change was set to take effect no later than January 1 of next year, the trade group Arizona Dispensaries Association (ADA) said in announcing the change.

The organization applauded regulators for working to adopt regulations ahead of schedule.

“We are thrilled that the Department of Health’s proactive approach and commitment to implementing a well-thought-out delivery program has helped us reach this landmark moment sooner than expected,” Ann Torrez, ADA’s executive director, said in a statement.

Details of the new delivery program are included in updated adult-use and medical marijuana rules posted by the state Department of Health Services. The changes take effect on November 1.

Rules include tracking of orders and deliveries, including times and locations, and require that delivery workers have a means of communicating with the marijuana establishment. Marijuana products and cannabis plants may be lawfully transported to buyers, but the change does not encompass delivery of paraphernalia.

States vary as to whether they allow delivery of adult-use marijuana, but those that have adopted the policy cite a possible increase in public safety. In New Jersey, for example, regulators last year highlighted cannabis delivery services as one of a number of measures designed to reduce the prevalence of impaired driving.

Meanwhile in Arizona, a state appeals court ruled earlier this month that medical marijuana dispensaries can operate near preschools, reasoning that state cannabis laws differentiate between “schools” and “preschools.”

A different appellate ruling recently said the state can’t suspend a driver’s license merely because someone has THC in their bloodstream; they must actually be impaired while behind the wheel.

As far as the state’s medical marijuana market, the program has continued to shrink following voters’ approval of adult-use legalization. A report from this summer noted that sales have dropped to one-quarter of the size of the adult-use market three years after recreational sales began.

Separately, as the November election approaches, two new polls show strong majority support for marijuana legalization, federal rescheduling and cannabis banking reform among likely voters in Arizona, which is a key presidential battleground state.

Regarding other drug reforms, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) signed a bill into law this summer that would allow firefighters and peace officers with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to get workers’ compensation coverage for MDMA therapy if it is federally legalized.

Hobbs signing of that bill came shortly after she vetoed a separate proposal to legalize psilocybin service centers.

The measure would have significantly expanded on Arizona’s existing research-focused psychedelics law that provides $5 million in annual funding to support studies into psilocybin therapy.