Utah medical marijuana pharmacies prep for drive-thru & home delivery as demand increases
Since the first week of March, when they became legal in Utah, three medical marijuana pharmacies have opened in Utah.
As demand for their products steadily increases, two of those pharmacies are preparing to offer drive-thru services in July.
In addition to drive-thru, the state will allow pharmacies to offer home deliveries - if they meet strict requirements for delivering themselves, or through a licensed medical marijuana courier.
Right now, about 3,500 Utahns have applied for and received medical cannabis cards in order to purchase product pharmacies.
The state expects 10 thousand Utah patients will hold cards by the end of 2020. The state has been issuing 300-400 cards per week.
Rich Oborn, Director of the Utah Center for Medical Cannabis says:
Three pharmacies is definitely not enough."
Oborn, who is with the Utah Department of Health, which oversees pharmacies and patient cards, said eleven more pharmacies will open in 2020 with locations that include St. George, Cedar City, West Bountiful, Salt Lake, Lehi, Provo, and Payson.
Dragonfly Wellness in Salt Lake, the first cannabis pharmacy to open in Utah, has been very busy since it opened. For a while, it was the only pharmacy.
Narith Panh, one of the founders, said Dragonfly is preparing for drive-thru services.
The pharmacy is housed in a building that was once a bank, so it’s already set up for drive-thru.
The company is trying to figure out how to modify the tube system that tellers once used to send money and papers to customers. Cannabis products require more space.
Panh said as the only cannabis pharmacy in the Salt Lake Valley, it has been very busy with customers from all over the state - including St. George.
Since Dragonfly is also a producer, it’s been difficult to meet demands for supply of all products.
He looks forward to the day when other pharmacies open their doors. Panh says:
I think a lot of people underestimated demand for medical cannabis here in Utah."
