In Pennsylvania, medicinal cannabis dispensaries have been deemed an essential business and will remain open during the shut-down. Regulations on Medicinal Cannabis sales during the coronavirus pandemic vary from state to state. Some states have not made any changes to their cannabis selling process, but Pennsylvania Governor, Tom Wolf, has signed new legislation into action.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, “The Department of Health (DOH) will allow dispensary employees to go out to the vehicle, retrieve identification cards, go back inside and dispense product in accordance with regulatory dispensing requirements and then deliver to the vehicle. In all cases, the vehicle must be located on ‘site.’” This new law will only be in effect until the coronavirus situation comes to an end. Most medicinal cannabis dispensaries in Pennsylvania will be taking advantage of the new legislation and offering services such as curb-side pickup and online ordering.
Sellersville, PA’s Medicinal Cannabis Dispensary, TerraVida Holistic Centers, has put a few new procedures in place to provide their patients with safe service. TerraVida stated the following in regards to updated coronavirus procedures, “We are working diligently with our online partners to accommodate more curbside and online pickup time. Curbside pickup will be online by appointment only from 9 AM through 7 PM, Monday through Saturday, and on Sundays from 10 AM to 4 PM.” Curbside pickups for online orders will help minimize person-to-person contact. Most other local dispensaries, including West Chester dispensary BEYOND / HELLO, are also offering similar curbside pickup service.
TerraVida also commented on some procedures they put in place to ensure the safety of the patients that choose to enterstore, which is still open. They stated, “As part of our efforts to keep our patients and staff safe, we have set temporary limits [for the] number of patients in our buildings to 10, we have also limited daily visits to our dispensaries to one per day. Our staff members are wearing gloves and masks, as well as cleaning as well as sanitizing hourly.”
TerraVida is also offering a cannabis delivery service for emergency scenarios where a patient may not be able to travel. TerraVida stated, “If you are unable to travel to our dispensaries, we have emergency caregivers on hand to assist with home deliveries.” These new procedures will be in place until further notice.
Jacob Gassler is a third year media and culture major with a minor in journalism. Jg889087@wcupa