Drive-thru cannabis dispensaries a no go in New Mexico

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The New Mexico Health Department has put the brakes on a proposed drive-thru medical cannabis dispensary aimed at serving people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

The idea was proposed by David Romero White, president of Organtica, one of the newer medical marijuana producers in the state. He had planned to open the drive-thru this year at the company’s first dispensary in Albuquerque.

White said a drive-thru would benefit patients with PTSD who can feel uncomfortable in crowded dispensaries, according to the Albuquerque Journal.

At least two other states – Oregon and Michigan – have been known to have dispensaries with drive-thrus, the paper reported.

“We think it’s a good service that needs to be brought to the patients,” White told the paper. Organtica “will work with the Department of Health and figure out what they have an objection to, and work to resolve it.”

A state Health Department spokesman, David Morgan, said safety was behind the agency’s decision.

“We have not approved any requests for drive-up window dispensing out of an abundance of caution for the safety of the patients and the (dispensary) employees,” Morgan said in a written statement to the paper.