DENVER — As the City and County of Denver moves forward with accepting marijuana delivery permit applications, the city’s department of excise and licenses said it has not received many applications from dispensaries since opening the process.
“The most extensive changes to marijuana rules and regulations since initial legalization is going forward successfully. One store has been approved to do delivery with a transporter, a social equity applicant that actually does delivery. The bad news is we just haven’t had many applicants from a stores perspective,” said Eric Escudero, spokesperson for Denver's Department of Excise and Licenses.
In Denver, for dispensaries to provide marijuana delivery services, owners must apply for a delivery license then enter into a contract with social equity delivery businesses that can provide the delivery service for the dispensary.
“If there are no stores or not many stores that apply, unfortunately it puts our social equity efforts in peril because these social equity delivery drivers — they need stores to do delivery for,” Escudero said. “Our hope is that the mega-companies in the cannabis industry who made a lot of money over the past seven years will show that they truly support social equity and they see the urgency also for people who have medical conditions such as cancer that need pain relief or something to help their appetite and they need access."
Denver7 reached out to the Marijuana Industry Group to find out why there's a lack interest.
Marijuana Industry Group Executive Director Truman Bradley provided the following statement: “Cannabis delivery in Colorado is a new, complex, and as yet unproven business model. Some dispensary owners are taking a wait-and-see approach. That said, I spoke to several MIG members including Pig N' Whistle on the dispensary side and Greenbird LLC on the transporter side that have applied to the city and are eagerly awaiting licensure.”
Bradley said as more Colorado cities legalize delivery, he believes the city will see the delivery market pick up.