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March 27, 2020

marijuana delivery how to leafly

One upside of our new cyberpunk dystopia? On-demand legal cannabis. (Leafly)

odern life has its drawbacks, but legal cannabis delivered to your door is not one of them.

In 2020, millions of Americans now have access to the world’s cleanest, strongest, most fragrant cannabis ever grown—all from a click of a cursor or mobile phone tap.

Still, new consumers consistently report being mystified by this new life option. They’re used to either calling their guy, or going into a licensed store for the dispensary experience.

Longtime delivery service operator Zachary Pitts of Goddess Delivers said the most common question he gets is, “‘Is this really real? Can we actually get it legally delivered to our home and it’s fine and it all works and it’s great weed?’”

“And we’re like, ‘100%.’”

Here’s how to streamline your life, and save time and money with legal cannabis delivery services.

Looking for legal cannabis? Leafly has all your local menus

Marijuana delivery near me—Here’s how

You can use Leafly Finder to view verified, licensed cannabis stores in North America and beyond.

Popular search engines or other cannabis finder sites like Yelp often do not perform due diligence on whether or not a store is actually licensed, said Pitts, who is a member of the California Delivery Alliance.

That’s important because unlicensed stores carry untested products, which often contain labeling errors, and impurities. For example, about four in five illegal vape pens would fail purity tests in California.

How to get cannabis delivered to you

Delivery cannabis works a lot like delivery pizza, or an Amazon order. Generally, you place an online order or a phone order to a licensed store. Then, you get confirmation email or text, as well as a delivery time. When the delivery arrives, you show ID, sign, pay, and take your goods. Here’s the basic steps:

  1. Go to Leafly.com/Finder.
  2. Filter by delivery. In the top right corner, check the ‘delivery’ box.
  3. Shop local menus. Click on store pages and view products.
  4. Phone in an order. Use the phone number on the store page to call in an order like it’s pizza.
  5. Alternatively, shop online. Put products in an online basket using participating Leafly advertisers. Click ‘add to bag’ under product listings at participating stores.
  6. Check out. Click on your shopping cart at the top right hand corner of your screen to order. First time shoppers, make an account for easy re-orders.
  7. Get confirmation. Receive texts or emails confirming order reception, processing and delivery time.
  8. Receive your goods. Have exact change in cash and a valid form of ID to receive your goods from the delivery person.
Physical distancing and cannabis delivery go great together. (Atlas/AdobeStock)

Physical distancing and cannabis delivery go great together. (Atlas/AdobeStock)

Where are cannabis deliveries legal?

Several medical and adult-use cannabis states allow cannabis deliveries. Canadian legalization also uses delivery fulfillment.

5 states have adult-use cannabis delivery:

  • California has several hundred licensed delivery services serving the entire state
  • Oregon has limited delivery options based on local law
  • Maine has legalized delivery services
  • Nevada has adopted emergency rules permitting delivery during COVID-19
  • Massachusetts has legalized delivery, but it’s not operational yet
  • Michigan is allowing adult-use delivery under emergency rules

12 states have legal medical cannabis delivery:

  • Arizona
  • California
  • Florida
  • Maine
  • Maryland
  • Massachusetts
  • Michigan
  • Nevada
  • New Mexico
  • New Jersey
  • North Dakota
  • Oregon

Delivery and COVID-19

Furthermore, the advent of COVID-19 has sped adoption of delivery fulfillment, which can be cleaner than in-store transactions.

Efforts to contain the coronavirus may cause changes in availability, operating hours, or procedures at delivery services. We’re tracking openings and closures on the ‘Is my cannabis dispensary open? And does it deliver?‘’ page.

Illegal delivery

Delivery fulfillment has long been popular in illicit markets like New York, which recently decriminalized adult-use cannabis possession. Delivery is not yet legal in Washington, or Colorado, despite immense interest in Seattle and Denver. And of course, all this activity runs counter to the federal Controlled Substances Act.

Marijuana deliveries in San Francisco / Bay Area

San Francisco has dozens of delivery services to choose from. It might be America’s legal cannabis delivery epicenter. Many licensed local stores offer delivery, like SPARC, Purple Star, or Medithrive. Other outlets are delivery-only, including JAHnetics, Lady Chatterly’s, and Nice Guys. San Jose’s Caliva is also strong in SF.

Bay Area delivery services also roll into San Francisco, including likes of award-winning Bay Area C.R.A.F.T. delivery service—they’re true OGs with top-shelf-only tastes. Sava is also hugely popular—women and queer-owned with a highly curated menu.

Cannabis deliveries in Los Angeles

Los Angelenos enjoy dozens upon dozens of delivery options. The city’s 160 licensed stores are adding delivery fulfillment. Plus—regional couriers drop into lala-land. Look out for Gold Leaf Scientifics, Goddess Delivers, Emjay, Grassdoor, High Tide Organics, The Pottery, and Ganjarunner.

Weed deliveries in New York, Washington DC, Denver, Seattle

New York cannabis couriers are very popular, but not yet legal. Despite widespread support, New York lawmakers have yet to tax or regulate the supply chain. Don’t risk a tainted vape pen, or pesticide-laden bud. For DC, see New York. In Denver, sorry—not legal. Yet. Ditto Seattle.

Looking for legal cannabis? Leafly has all your local menus

What are the best marijuana delivery services in my area?

It depends on what you’re looking for.

Speed? Low prices? Elite products? Customer service?

Delivery services vary by price, operating hours, delivery times, minimum orders, service areas, menu selection, menu emphasis, and degree of customer service.

For example, Ganja Goddess offers a slick e-commerce experience, lots of hand-holding, and service to most of the entire state of California. But it’s same-day or next-day. “It’s about weighing your options,” said Ganja Goddess’ Zachary Pitts, who is a member of the California Cannabis Couriers Association. “It really depends on what you’re looking for.”

Since most customers are new, start with services that have high customer service scores on Leafly reviews and other sites, he said. Look at who’s winning awards, like Zenganic in Oakland, CA.

We’re constantly reviewing deliveries at Leafly, like our recent look at the best Northern California delivery services.

A Golden State's Shasta Bloom—a guaranteed solid buy vis delivery in California. (David Downs/Leafly)

Brands matter: A Golden State‘s Shasta Bloom (Zookies X OG Kush) is a guaranteed solid buy via delivery in California. (David Downs/Leafly)

Types of marijuana delivery services

Delivery is so diverse, there’s sub-specializations within the delivery space.

On-demand cannabis delivery

That’s where you say, ‘Bring me the herb!’, and they rush it to you as fast as a Domino’s pizza. The popular option here is Eaze. Selection is usually smaller, not as good, and prices aren’t great. But on-demand most closely satisfies the desire to pop out to the club and buy a joint.

Scheduled cannabis delivery

The opposite of on-demand is scheduled delivery, which is more like an Amazon package. It can be there the same-day, or next-day, or a particular day of the week. Scheduled cannabis delivery services can have a bigger, better selection, special deals, or other perks that come from a longer wait time.

Subscription boxes of the month

When the delivery is scheduled, things can get really awesome. Think: wine of the month clubs, but for cannabis. A standout subscription box in California right now is Flowsent. It’s like having your own elite flower buyer picking out your buds, extract, or edibles boxes. For folks whose time is money.

Membership clubs

Membership clubs like Flower Co. combine Costco-style member savings, and delivery, to bring you buckets of primo herb at rock-bottom prices.

Flowsent's flower box curates only the best for you. (David Downs/Leafly)

Delivery subscription box Flowsent‘s flower box curates only the best for you. (David Downs/Leafly)

Frequently asked pot delivery questions:

Do I need a medical marijuana license?

You don’t need a medical license in adult-use states like California. But having a doctors note, or a state ID card can result in savings on local and state sales taxes, and cannabis use taxes.

If you are in a medical-only state, then yes you’ll need a doctor’s note and sometimes a state ID card to get delivery medical cannabis.

24-hour cannabis deliveries?

Sorry, there’s no 24-hour cannabis delivery yet. Public safety officials have issues with that idea.

Can you deliver to something that’s not a home?

No. No dropping herb off in parks or car parks or parking lots, etc. Generally, legal cannabis deliveries are tied to the customer’s home address. Delivering to a hotel, or other non-residential addresses depends on local and state rules.

Pro tips for using cannabis delivery services

  • App it up. Make sure you have Leafly on your Android phone, as well as your iOS devices. New app upgrades roll out weekly.
  • Have cash. Most delivery services only take cash, due to banking restrictions on the industry. However, some places do take debit cards, and a few are credit card-only. Be flexible.
  • Use online menus. But call for special help. “Customer service people have tried pretty much everything that’s on the menu. They’re going to know how to help you,” Pitts said.
  • Tip well. 20% should do it. Delivering bud is a low-paying job where you don’t actually get to smoke the awesome stuff on the menu. Share the love.

Name your favorite delivery service and why in the comments below.

David Downs's Bio Image

David Downs

David Downs directs news and lifestyle coverage as the California Bureau Chief for Leafly.com. He’s written for WIRED, Rolling Stone and Billboard, and is the former cannabis editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, as well as the author of several cannabis books including ‘Marijuana Harvest’ by Ed Rosenthal and David Downs. He co-hosts The Hash podcast. TW: @davidrdowns | IG @daviddowns


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