All around the world, businesses of every type are being impacted by COVID-19. We at DC Alchemy support the medical marijuana community and industry. We wanted to provide updates on how it has been affected. We’re there for you, now more than ever.
If you want to learn more about medical marijuana, see our blog!
Arizona Medical Marijuana Sales During COVID
The Arizona Department of Health Services keeps records of marijuana sales and releases the data every month. The state only allows the sale and distribution of medical marijuana. The April report has not been released, as of April 27, 2020.
The state’s medical marijuana program, which is estimated to be the third largest in the country, has grown by leaps and bounds for years. So far, COVID-19 has not hindered this growth.
Many businesses closed during the COVID-19 Stay at Home order, but the state government allowed medical marijuana dispensaries to remain open.
In March, medical marijuana dispensaries sold 17,095 pounds which is more than 2,200 pounds more than what was sold in February — an increase of 15%!
Here is a full breakdown:
March:
- Marijuana flower: 15,407 lbs
- Marijuana edibles: 511 lbs
- Other marijuana: 1,175 lbs
February:
- 14,886 lbs total purchased
- Marijuana flower: 13,384 lbs (214,157 ounces)
- Marijuana edibles: 458 lbs
- Other marijuana: 1,043 lbs
Changes in Laws/Policies Around Marijuana
While the policies surrounding medical marijuana have stalled in many states, Arizona is still moving forward with some community driven bills, including a drug reform initiative for recreational legalization.
Marijuana activists in Arizona say they’ve already collected more than enough signatures to qualify a legalization measure for the state’s November ballot. The measure is called the The Smart and Safe Arizona Initiative.
It has gathered more than 320,000 signatures—about 80,000 more than is required to make the ballot.
The proposed initiative would allow individuals who are 21 and older to possess and purchase cannabis from licensed retailers. People could possess up to an ounce of marijuana at a time and cultivate up to six plants for personal use.
The initiative proposes that cannabis sales would be taxed at 16 percent. The initial revenue of the sales would cover implementation costs and the rest would be divided among community colleges, infrastructure, a justice reinvestment, and public services such as police and firefighters.
The Department of Health Services would be responsible for regulating the program and issuing cannabis business licenses.
Changes in Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
Some clinics are starting to join the fight against the global pandemic that is COVID-19 by offering antibody testing for the virus. Through Empower Clinics Inc., Sun Valley Health Clinics is one of these. The group established a four phase national testing program using the RAPID COVID-19 test kits. The tests are FDA approved.
The phases will be implemented as time goes on. Phase one is a blood test where results are available in about 48 hours after your blood work has been sent to a lab.
Phase two is offering the RAPID test. The RAPID test allows results to be ready in 1-15 minutes. The service will be offered in clinics using a drive-up service. It will be conducted by the clinic staff, as well as a door-step service, using certified mobile technicians. This should begin in May 2020.
Phase three includes Business Employee Testing (BET) programs, which offers testing to businesses on a one-time basis, repeat basis and/or subscription basis. This allows employees to get back to work safely.
Phase four is a US nationwide roll-out, which will offer all phases that can be accessed at Empower to purchase Rapid COVID-19 test kits. The company anticipates phase four services to start in the third quarter of this year.
Changes to DC Alchemy
We are now more dedicated than ever to offering you premium products for non-premium prices.We still provide CCell products to local and national distributors and all of our products are laboratory tested and quality assured by Cannasafe. As always, we’re committed to providing you same day shipping on your order.
We have next-level hardware so that we can offer the best products at the best prices for you. Our premium CCELL cartridges means less leakage and better customer satisfaction, all without the premium markup you’ll find with other distributors. Leading wholesaler for CCELL style cartridges DC Alchemy specializes in working with businesses like yours. Contact us today to learn more or browse our shop to find the perfect product for you.
