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 possibly can learn our prior protection right here, right here and right here, and you may learn the proposed guidelines here. The general public listening to lasted about 35 minutes and a sizzling subject was whether or not retailers might proceed to ship medical and leisure marijuana to prospects and sufferers by way of 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 objects by way of a drive-up or walk-up window. However in December 2021 the COVID-19 pandemic brought about the OLCC to undertake temporary rules that permitted delivering marijuana objects 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 out to be 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, partly, by forbidding drive-thru supply and permitting walk-up window supply. Right here’s what the brand new rule might say: A license might not promote any marijuana merchandise by way of a drive-up or walk-up window. Proposed OAR 845-025-1300.
On the similar time, the OLCC seems keen to permit supply to individuals who’re on-site however exterior of the shop, such because the car parking zone or entrance entrance, inside 150 toes 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 might 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 issues. 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 might wait of their automobile and have marijuana objects 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 specific automobile. The security concern makes plenty of sense given the variety of robberies occurring at dispensaries. One commenter identified that securing a drive-thru is far simpler than a whole car parking zone.
A business landlord in Portland testified that from its perspective a chosen drive-thru is rather more fascinating than having marijuana delivered at random places all through the car parking zone of a property. Notably, when different companies might use the car parking zone. This particular person additionally testified drive-thru is solely higher for the neighborhood than having marijuana offered to parked automobiles sitting in loads. (Is smart!) This landlord additionally leases business property to Fred Meyer, which offers prescription medication by way of a drive-thru, and testified that offering medical marijuana isn’t any totally different from its perspective.
Accessibility and security are keys to a profitable Oregon marijuana business. These type of on-the-ground commonsense views are a key purpose why the OLCC holds public hearings on proposed guidelines and accepts written feedback. Let’s hope the OLCC takes these issues to coronary heart and makes drive-thru supply of marijuana objects a everlasting, permissible supply technique and doesn’t kill drive-thru supply.
An enormous thanks to everybody who participated within the OLCC’s listening to.