BOSTON (CBS) — Pot shops in Massachusetts are ready to offer curbside pickup starting Monday, the Cannabis Control Commission said. Recreational marijuana retailers, deemed “nonessential” businesses by Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration, have been shut down since March.
The commission said 44 pot retailers will be able to start operating curbside on Monday as allowed under Baker’s phased reopening plan.
“The Cannabis Control Commission, with the cooperation of licensees, municipalities, and most importantly, registered qualifying patients, has demonstrated that we are effectively able to preserve public health and safety through curbside operations and other emergency protocols,” said Executive Director Shawn Collins in a statement. “I am confident that our adult-use licensees and their customers will adapt just the same when they reopen under similar protocols next week.”
Retailers will be able to make sales over the phone or electronically. They must still verify that customers are over 21 years old.
Baker had said for weeks that allowing them to open would attract customers from other states and create crowding. But just like other retailers on Monday, pot shops will be able to offer products for pickup.
“If you’re gonna do curbside, it makes sense to do curbside for everybody,” Baker said at his reopening press conference Monday.
The retailers will have to submit their plan for offering curbside pick up the commission.
