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With the legalization of recreational marijuana just over the border in Massachusetts, Rhode Island dispensaries are looking for ways to step up their games and compete with new competition from the north once the law goes into effect in July of 2018.<\/p>\n
Only medical marijuana is currently available in the state of Rhode Island, but the three dispensaries in the state aren\u2019t taking the news or the new competition without putting up a fight.<\/p>\n
How are they fighting? By offering a new service, medical-marijuana delivery services.<\/p>\n
How will this help?<\/p>\n
For patients that have medical marijuana cards, it\u2019s one way to keep their business in the state, by bringing the goods to them.<\/p>\n
Many patients who could benefit from medical marijuana have been reluctant to do so. Not only does Rhode Island require them to be listed on a state registry, but they must also pay $50 each year to renew their patient cards.<\/p>\n
Dispensaries believe the convenience of having delivery to their homes will offset some of these considerations while offering a value-added service that will be unavailable from Massachusetts dispensaries.<\/p>\n
The good news for Rhode Island dispensaries is the belief that when the first recreational marijuana shops open in Massachusetts there will be insufficient supply to meet the demand. This means Rhode Island dispensaries may not be hard hit by new competition until more shops are available and the supply begins to meet, if not exceed, the demand.<\/p>\n
There is also hope that the hefty taxes imposed on recreational marijuana in Massachusetts will keep many Rhode Island patients buying close to home instead.<\/p>\n
The added convenience of in-home delivery may be the ticket to turn the tide in favor of Rhode Island dispensaries \u2013 at least for a little while.<\/p>\n
In an agreement struck with the state Department of Health, one Rhode Island dispensary has been offering limited delivery services to medical marijuana patients who were homebound.<\/p>\n