Dispensation of Cannabis in the United States
The federal law still classifies cannabis as a schedule 1 drug. The laws surrounding Cannabis for medical and recreational use are, however, a minefield. In the United States, individual states have legalized the sale of marijuana. With the Federal law’s classification, it is more confusing for business owners to sell cannabis or cannabis-related products. This means that traveling between states with weed, even if they have all legalized cannabis, is punishable by law. There is, however, progress being made. The number of states that have legalized cannabis for medical use sits at twenty-nine while recreational users stand at nine states. This brings reassurance as the support for weed continues to grow. Mentioned below are some of the cannabis purchasing methods in the US.
Cannabis Dispensaries
Local purchases. The local government regulated physical locations which are known as cannabis dispensaries or, typically inside a retail storefront or office building have been made available. These places are designated purposefully for cannabis and its related product sales. The cannabis sold in these places serves both medical and recreational purposes. They were first modeled in Amsterdam where they were innocently called the coffee shops. A cannabis dispensary differs from similar stores known as head shops, in that only state-licensed cannabis dispensaries are authorized to sell cannabis.
Medical dispensaries. Despite the federal laws, twenty-three of the US states regulate some form of medical cannabis sales. As of 2016 seventeen of these states had at least one medical marijuana dispensary, with varying product laws. The medical dispensaries in these states buy their exit shop products (excluding medical marijuana), like childproof safety bags, and in-store safety products, from a plethora of new manufacturing companies in mainly China via importers based in the US. The growing need for dispensaries to comply with various legislative laws has given birth to thousands of new products.
Online purchases. Selling cannabis and its related products online has been made easier. With the regulations being made on them, many e-commerce platforms have emerged to help sellers to do their sales. The most important factor considered in the sale of Cannabis and its related products is; expected regulations and current payment processing limitations. Therefore, one has to stay compliant with state laws and regulations. The right way for sellers to mitigate risk, therefore, is to use an optimized eCommerce platform with specialized custom software and that also integrates with the cannabis-friendly payment processor.
Conclusion
The future is looking for a bright shade of green for cannabis-lovers across the US. While there is still a long way to go, buying and smoking weed legally just got a whole lot easier in several states. The war on drugs continues to display cracks in its amour. Many will argue it has been costly and ineffective; now, the favored stance is legalization and regulation over total prohibition. An increasing number of states have started to legalize weed not only for medical use but also for recreational enjoyment. With it slowly climbing from the depths of stigma, the legally purchasing of cannabis has greatly increased in the US.