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If there were no limit on the number of medical marijuana dispensaries and there were as many medical marijuana stores as there are pharmacies or liquor stores, I doubt there would be a big demand for medical marijuana deliveries.

Sadly the people that wrote Prop 203 wrote it to make the medical marijuana dispensaries rich, not help sick people that need medical marijuana. And I'm sure that's why the severely limited the number of medical marijuana dispensaries.

Source

Medical marijuana delivery: Which metro Phoenix cities allow it, which don't

Lily Altavena, The Republic | azcentral.com Published 6:00 a.m. MT March 16, 2018

Arizona law allows dispensaries to deliver medical marijuana, but at least six metro Phoenix cities bar its delivery.

But that could change in Mesa.

This spring, the Mesa City Council will consider allowing delivery from dispensaries in the area.

Planning Director John Wesley said the department hadn't reviewed its medical marijuana ordinance in several years, and the adjustment related to delivery is among proposed tweaks.

The change actually won't change much as dispensaries already had found a work-around to allow deliveries in the city.

Getting around city rules

If approved, the change will be good news for Jonathan Ghiz, CEO and co-founder of Supurb, a medical marijuana delivery service that connects dispensaries to patients. Kind of like Postmates, the restaurants delivery app, but for weed.

His business model relies on city ordinances that don't prohibit delivery, although Ghiz said the company has developed workarounds.

The ordinance says Mesa dispensaries can't deliver, but it doesn't say delivery can't take place within Mesa. So customers will order out from dispensaries located in other cities, and those cities will cash in on the tax revenue instead of Mesa.

"That’s problematic, that prevents the city from generating tax revenue," Ghiz said. "Our dispensary partner in Chandler is doing hundreds of deliveries a month into Mesa."

Ghiz's dispensary partner, Oasis, is technically not in Chandler, another city prohibiting marijuana delivery. Oasis is located in a county island, a slice of unincorporated land.

"It doesn’t make any sense," he said. "It’s a revenue thing."

Who gets medical marijuana delivered? The East Valley, apparently.

Ghiz said about 80 percent of Supurb's deliveries are coming from the East Valley: around Tempe, Mesa and Chandler.

Those customers, he says, are early adopters of apps like his. It's why he's intent on having more dispensaries with the ability to deliver medical marijuana.

"The cannabis patients in their areas like privacy, they like the convenience, they’re very tech-savvy," Ghiz said.

Which cities allow medical marijuana delivery? Turns out, many of the cities and towns in metro Phoenix don't agree on medical marijuana delivery — even next door neighbors like Tempe and Mesa.

Cities where dispensaries can deliver medical marijuana:

Phoenix.

Tempe.

Goodyear.

Cities that bar dispensaries from delivering medical marijuana:

Mesa.

Chandler.

Gilbert.

Glendale.

Fountain Hills.

Avondale.

Conflict with state law

The legal weed industry is among the fastest-growing in the United States, according to a Marijuana Business Daily report. Veuer's Sam Berman has the full story. Buzz60

State law already allows dispensaries to deliver medical marijuana in Arizona. And conflicts between city and state dictates have a history of turning ugly.

Governor Doug Ducey signed a law in 2016 punishing Arizona cities for enacting conflicting regulations. State lawmakers can ask the attorney general to investigate whether a regulation agrees with state law. If it's found to conflict, the city then is given time to fix the issue or lose out on state-shared revenue.

It's unclear which decree dispensaries are to follow: the city's or the state's, though it appears that most Mesa medical marijuana sellers follow Mesa's zoning laws and do not deliver.

Reach reporter Lily Altavena at laltavena@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8927. Follow her on Twitter: @lilyAlta.