Arizona medical marijuana dispensaries add health precautions, creating lines in parking lots

Long lines have been forming at Arizona’s medical marijuana dispensaries, but it’s not necessarily from a rush on sales during the coronavirus pandemic.

Dispensaries, which remain open, are taking some extra precautions like limiting the number of customers inside at once.

At Nature’s Medicines dispensary on McDowell Road, that meant dozens of patients waiting in the parking lot at times Thursday and Friday, as the dispensary limited business to five customers inside at once.

“Keeping in mind a lot of our patients do have compromised immune systems,” said Sheena Williams, patient care advocate at Nature’s Medicines. “We want to be as vigilant as we can in this time.”

Outside on Friday, the dispensary had five lines for customers to enter and meet with five employees working the counters, ensuring no more than 10 people in the building at once.

Williams said that was in line with the Gov. Doug Ducey’s recommendation that people don’t socialize in groups larger than 10. Normally 35 or so customers can be inside the store, and even then the popular dispensary sometimes has customers waiting outside. [Read more at azcentral.]