New Hampshire medical marijuana dispensaries shift delivery method during COVID crisis

When the crisis began, the lines seemed endless. Around 50 people showed up outside Prime Alternative Care Center in Merrimack at 11 a.m., anxious to pick up their prescribed therapeutic cannabis as other health clinics and businesses closed.

But now that it’s become clear that New Hampshire’s five therapeutic cannabis dispensaries aren’t going anywhere, throughout the COVID-19 crisis, the surge has evened out a little.

And the facilities themselves are adapting to the new reality.

The cannabis dispensaries didn’t explicitly show up in the list of essential businesses last week and they haven’t received airtime in the governor’s press conferences.

But the clinics are still open for business, and they’re seeing more demand than ever, managers say.

“Knowing that we’re still here and not having had any significant new orders … has been helpful at just kind of calming the waters a little,” said Keenan Blum, at Prime ATC. “We are able to keep up with everyone’s need as long as everyone is patient and steady at coming through.”

Still, some dispensaries are dealing better with the new stress than others. While some have been able to retool their workflow to arrange pickup and make services virtual, others are being hit hard. [Read more at Concord Monitor]